Regional update: Exploration highlights in Qubec In 2001 and early 2002

The Superior and Grenville tectonic provinces underlie most of Qubec and form a vast territory that hosts mineral resources including precious metals (Au, Ag), base metals (Cu, Zn, Ni), iron and other metals (Ti, Nb), as well as industrial minerals (diamonds, ilmenite, graphite, etc.), building materials and peat. The principal substances attracting interest in the Churchill Province of Qubec are nickel, copper, platinum group elements (PGEs), zinc, iron and diamonds.

The southern part of Qubec is mainly recognized for its building materials, ornamental stone (limestone, dolomite, sandstone, schist, granite, and syenite) and industrial minerals (chrysotile, talc, quartz, halite, and clay). The Appalachian Foothills, in particular, remains an important target for hydrocarbon deposits.

Abitibi and Pontiac

The Superior Province forms the core of the Canadian Shield and is known for the Abitibi and Pontiac subprovinces, host to most of Qubec’s copper, zinc and gold mines.

The Abitibi Subprovince is the largest Archean greenstone belt in the world, as well as one of the richest and most studied. It is world-renowned for the great number of its base and precious metal deposits.

The Pontiac Subprovince is separated from the Abitibi Subprovince by the Cadillac – Larder Lake Fault, a major structural break that extends east to west for more than 100 km in Qubec and Ontario. The Cadillac – Larder Lake Fault and the Destor – Porcupine Fault– a second important east-west structure located a few tens of kilometres farther north–are host to the majority of gold deposits in northwest Qubec. A few mines have been found and operated in the Pontiac Subprovince and the area is also known for a number of dimension stone and industrial mineral (lime, quartz, kyanite, mica and garnet) quarries.

In August 2001, Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd. inaugurated the Penna shaft at the LaRonde polymetallic mine. With a depth of 2,250 m, the Penna shaft is the deepest, single-lift mine shaft in North America. Known mineralization at the mine extends to a depth of more than 3,000 m and remains open in all directions. The company is increasing the mill’s processing capacity from 5,000 to 7,000 tonnes of ore per day, and gold output should rise to 396,000 ounces in 2004. As of January 1, 2002, proven reserves stand at 4.53 million tons grading 1.86 g/t Au, 86.75 g/t Ag, 0.16% Cu and 5.24% Zn. The LaRonde mine has produced over 1.7 million ounces of gold since the first shaft opened in 1988 and the mineral resource of 7.8 million ounces of gold is sufficient to ensure 15 more years of production.

In the past year, mineral exploration in the Abitibi and Pontiac subprovinces saw a number of projects move forward. Maude Lake Exploration obtained promising drill results on its Comtois gold project, west of Lebel-sur-Quvillon. On the Croinor property, east of Val-d’Or, South Malartic Exploration continued stripping and drilling programs. West of Joutel, Cancor Mines continued to work on the Gemini base metal project, and discovered a new massive sulphide zone–dubbed Zone 98. Aurora Platinum Corp. released favourable drill results throughout the year from the Midrim-Belleterre-Angliers Ni-Cu-PGE projects in the Tmiscamingue region.

Positive results from feasibility studies on the Perseverance base metal project, near Matagami for Noranda Inc. and the Lac Dor vanadium project, south of Chibougamau, owned by McKenzie Bay Resources, in partnership with Soquem Inc., allowed the two projects to reach important milestones on their way to eventual production. The Lac Dor deposit contains 32 million tonnes (t) of ore grading 0.65% V2O5 (measured resource) and 68 million t at 0.49% V2O5 (indicated resource).

The end of operations in November 2001 at the Francoeur gold mine, west of Rouyn-Noranda, held by Richmont Mines, was counterbalanced by renewed production at the company’s Beaufor mine, east of Val-d’Or. Also in the Val-d’Or area, McWatters Mines decided in early 2002 to proceed with open pit mining operations at the Sigma-Lamaque gold complex. In the Chibougamau area, production resumed early this year at Campbell Resources’ Joe Mann mine.

Near North

In the Near North area, the highlight of 2001 was undoubtedly the December discovery of two diamond-bearing kimberlitic bodies in the Otish Mountains area by partners Ashton Mining of Canada and Soquem Inc. The first discovery (called Renard 1) yielded 54 microdiamonds and five macrodiamonds (diamonds more than 0.5 mm in size in one direction) from 205.8 kg of drill core. The second discovery (Renard 2) yielded 116 microdiamonds and 29 macrodiamonds from 163.1 kg of drill core. This announcement sparked an unprecedented staking rush in the Upper Eastmain sector and to the north of the Proterozoic Mistassini sedimentary basin (see article on page 10). Since the first announcement, the two companies have identified another four diamondiferous kimberlitic bodies (designated Renard 3 through Renard 6), in the immediate vicinity of the first two pipes.

The Wemindji sector, which represents the western segment of the Wemindji-Caniapiscau structural corridor, is also considered to be a prime target for diamond exploration. Majescor Resources continued a till sampling program and geophysical surveys in this area. The company intends to sample a near-surface, subhorizontal tabular body of kimberlitic rock it identified during a drilling campaign last winter.

In the same area, Dianor Resources announced the recovery of a clear yellow, octahedral to cubic microdiamond from a lamprophyre dyke on the Yasinski North property.

In the James Bay region, numerous exploration programs yielded significant results for gold, base metals and PGEs. Matamec Explorations announced encouraging drill intersections for gold in iron formations on the Sakami property. On the La Grande Sud project, work by Cambior Inc. and Virginia Gold Mines led to the discovery of a new auriferous zone, dubbed Zone 30. The eastern segment of the James Bay sector (Frotet-Troilus segment) is considered to have excellent potential for massive sulphide deposits. Furthermore, porphyry-type Cu-Au-Ag mineralization, such as the Troilus mine (Inmet Mining Corp.), represents an important exploration target.

In the near future, diamond exploration will undoubtedly be at the forefront in the various sectors of the Near North. The enthusiasm generated by the positive results obtained in the search for diamonds thus far, combined with the accumulation of recent data, should lead to the recognition of new areas of interest in the James Bay region. The search for extensions to known gold-bearing zones and for porphyry-type Cu-Au-Ag deposits should continue throughout the sector.

Far North

Fully a third of Qubec’s territory is poorly explored; the northern part of the Superior Province, the Churchill Province and the Rae Province can be considered as frontier regions. They nevertheless offer interesting mineral potential and have attracted many explorationists in recent years.

Gologie Qubec, through its Far North Mining Exploration Program initiated in 1997, has mapped almost the entire northern half of the province at a scale of 1:250,000.

In 2001, the deposit types that attracted the most attention in northern Qubec were magmatic Ni-Cu Co PGE mineralization associated with ultramafic and mafic lavas and intrusions, gold in iron formations, and kimberlites.

The discovery of diamonds during the fall of 1999 by Twin Mining Corp. generated significant interest along the eastern shore of Ungava Bay, and some 28 mining exploration licences were acquired following the announcement. In April 2001, Twin Mining reported recovering 1,548 macrodiamonds from 342 tonnes of kimberlitic rock from bulk samples collected at three sites in the Torngat-1 dyke. In the Ungava Trough, Canadian Royalties and Ungava Minerals outlined interesting PGE mineralization in the Expo-Ungava zone. Socit minire Raglan, a division of Falconbridge Ltd., reached its production objectives in 2001 at the Raglan Ni-Cu mine, also located in the
Ungava Trough. The company extracts ore in open pit and underground mines from several massive sulphide lenses. Reserves are estimated at 22 million t at a grade of 3.12% Ni and 0.87% Cu. The company also recovers platinum, palladium, silver, cobalt and gold as byproducts. The three major property holders in the Raglan camp, Falconbridge, NovaWest Resources, and Anglo American Exploration (Canada), staked 1,500 cells in July 2002.

Exploration in the Far North should remain focused on the search for Ni-Cu-PGE deposits and diamonds.

Southern region

The Grenville Province is known for its iron and titanium mines, nepheline syenite, industrial minerals (wollastonite, silica, graphite) and dimension stone quarries (granites, anorthosites, mangerites).

The Grenville Province extends over more than 2,000 km long and is from 300 to 600 km wide. Exploration is mainly focused on magmatic and epigenetic sulphide deposits (Ni-Cu Co PGE) associated with the Lac-Saint Jean anorthositic intrusive complex. Appalaches Resources and Marum Resources have had continued success exploring for Ni-Cu-PGE mineralization on their B-20 property, located 20 km northwest of Port-Cartier. The spring diamond drilling campaigns on the Main and INCO grids returned significant results, including 0.66% Ni, 0.46% Cu and 0.10% Co over 3.5 m on the Main grid and 0.77% Ni, 0.56% Cu and 0.08% Co on the INCO grid. If one takes into account the main mineralized zone on B-20, the Vachon showing (with PGE grades up to 2.5 g/t) and other showings discovered last year, the Ni-Cu-PGE mineralization extends over more than 4 km.

Over the years, the Saguenay – Lac-Saint Jean sector has also been and continues to be a prime target area in the search for construction materials, especially dimension stone.

The Saint-Honor carbonatite complex, in the Saguenay – Lac-Saint Jean region, hosts the Niobec niobium deposit mined by Mazarin Inc. and Cambior. The mine, which has been in operation since 1976, is the only source of niobium in North America and is the third largest producer worldwide.

Anorthositic suites in this sector are known for their ilmenite and titaniferous magnetite ore deposits, in particular, the Havre-Saint-Pierre deposit. Since 1950, QIT Fer et Titane has been mining an ilmenite deposit at the Lac Tio open pit mine that is the second largest deposit in the world.

The Fermont area is characterized by numerous iron deposits. Extracted minerals are hematite and specular hematite. The orebodies have been mined since the 1950s by the Qubec Cartier Mining Co. (QCMC) in Qubec and by Iron Ore Co. of Canada and Wabush Mines in the adjacent parts of Labrador. In 2001, QCMC continued exploration on its Lac Hess property in order to increase the company’s iron ore reserves near its Mont Wright facilities.

The St. Lawrence Platform and Appalachians region lies south of the Canadian Shield and is mostly underlain by Paleozoic rocks. The majority of the 60 quarries that produced architectural stone, including quartzite, dolomitic marble and calcitic marble (decorative aggregate), steatite (sculptures and refractory plates), and slate (roof tiling), in 2001 are located in the southernmost part of the province.

Near Montral, Niocan is seeking a certificate of authorization from the Environment Ministry of Qubec to proceed with financing and development of its niobium deposit in the Oka Carbonatite Complex.

In the town of Asbestos in the Eastern Townships, Noranda’s Magnola plant, which began production in 2000, has increased its magnesium metal output. According to the company, 20 of 24 cells are currently in operation and full commercial production, at a planned rate of 58,000 tons of magnesium per year, is expected by the third quarter of 2002.

Government funding

For the past several years, the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) has provided funds to support mineral exploration activities in Qubec. During the 2001-2002 fiscal year, $12.9 million was divided between the Qubec Mineral Exploration Assistance Program (MEAP) and the Assistance Program for Junior Exploration Companies (APJC). A total of 119 projects were subsidized for an amount of $860,000 through MEAP, while APJC saw $5 million distributed to 16 junior companies in support of 24 exploration projects. Regional exploration funds support prospectors and exploration programs conducted by the funds themselves. The MNR granted $1.25 million to these funds in support of 148 prospecting projects ($770,000) and in-house projects ($480,000).

The MNR has also favoured the creation of mining funds to encourage native communities in the Near North and Far North regions to participate in developing the mineral potential of these vast areas. An amount of $350,000 was allocated to the Nunavik mining exploration fund and the Nistassinan Innu mining fund. An agreement was recently signed with the Crees, concerning the development of natural resources in the James Bay region, and a Cree mining fund was also created (see article, page 23).

The number of exploration projects and the amounts invested should increase this year, given the number of important discoveries made in 2001 and the first half of 2002, in particular with respect to diamond exploration, the diversification of targeted commodities, and the very favourable perception of exploration companies regarding Qubec’s mineral potential. Signs of diversification are seen in the opening of the Raglan Mine (Ni-Cu) in the Far North in 1998 and the recent discovery of important resources of vanadium and of diamondiferous kimberlites in central Qubec.

In the near future, Qubec’s mining exploration industry will still be anchored in the traditional gold and base metal camps, like those in the Abitibi, where detailed exploration has been limited to within 200 m from surface. In fact, recent efforts in the Abitibi have been directed toward searching at depth, and the use of new techniques–such as the MegaTEM airborne geophysical system–will undoubtedly uncover new exploration targets.

In addition, a renewed interest in diamond exploration, in Ni-Cu-PGE mineralization and in rare metals (tantalum, niobium and lithium) will keep explorationists active in central Qubec. The new discoveries of gold mineralization, porphyry-type and massive sulphide mineralization, as well as the confirmed diamond potential of the Near North region, should see the level of interest remain fairly high in this area of the province for the next few years as well.

Pierre Doucet is the resident geologist, Rouyn-Noranda, for the Qubec Ministry of Natural Resources.

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