NORTHERN ONTARIO Toronto-based QUEENSTON MINING is increasing its land position near Kirkland Lake under terms of a letter of intent with NEWMONT MINING CORP. OF CANADA. Queenston may earn a 50% interest in the 18-claim Kirkland Lake West (KLW) property in Teck Township. The KLW property is west of and adjacent to the Macassa gold mine, recently reopened by Kirkland Lake Gold (see CMJ Net News July 16, 2003).
Under the terms of the option agreement with Newmont, Queenston has the right to earn a 50% interest in the KLW property by incurring exploration expenditures of $2.5 million prior to June 30, 2008. The first year exploration commitment is $350,000, followed by an additional $500,000 in year two, $650,000 in year three and $1,000,000 in the final year. After Queenston has earned its interest, a joint venture will be formed and all further expenditures will be shared equally.
Queenston previously owned the KLW property and sold it to Franco-Nevada Mining (a predecessor of Newmont) in 1995. Since the sale, no exploration has been performed on the property.
Evidence from both surface and underground exploration has indicated the presence of the Kirkland Lake Main Break and subsidiary gold structures on the KLW property. Combined with the recent exploration success at Macassa, Queenston regards the potential for economic, Kirkland Lake-style gold mineralization on the KLW property as high. Beginning this summer, exploration on the property will include trenching, mapping and deep drilling to target both east-west- and north-south-trending gold-bearing structures.
Queenston has compiled a brief history of exploration activities going back to the 1930s on the Kirkland Lake West property. It was posted on May 18, 2004, on the Bulletin Board at www.queenston.ca.
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