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Zigzag (Li, Ta, Rb) Lithium & Critical Metal Exploration Project

Kerrs Gold Project | Ontario (Au) Gold Exploration Asset

Esa Project | (Au) Gold Exploration in Ontario Canada

Sunbeam (Au) Gold Exploration & Mining Project

North Hemlo (Au, Ni, Mo, Cu) Gold & Metal Exploration & Mining

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UK Listed Junior Mining Company | Gold & Metal Exploration

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Poppins

The prospectivity of our exploration ground isn’t really in doubt.

We hold seven eight blocks covering 225 square kilometres in the Hemlo-Schreiber district and Sunbeam project area of Ontario, a jurisdiction that is already delivering globally-significant production of critical mineral.

Alongside this, we have precious and base metals showings across our licences that we are developing as rapidly as we can. Accordingly, as a small-cap exploration company, it’s necessary for us to prioritise some prospects over others.

All told, this is a nice problem to have.

Geological endowment isn’t everything, though.

To be sure, it is critical.

But unless you’re in a jurisdiction that allows for efficient extraction, without the encumbrances either of corruption or over-regulation, even the best projects can be undone.

So, how does Ontario shape up in this regard?

Actually, it’s one of the best mining districts in the world.

The most recent survey by the Fraser Institute placed Ontario twelfth out of nearly a hundred jurisdictions surveyed for their investment attractiveness, and fourth amongst the top-rated Canadian provinces.

Canada had more of the top jurisdictions in the survey than any other country, a position that was ensured by its long history of mining, the depths of its capital markets, its expertise both on the east coast and the west, and the continued and ongoing success of exploration and production across its vast open spaces.

In short, Canada is a good place to go mining, and there’s official analysis to prove it.

Within Canada, Ontario is one of the most famous mining destinations of all, hosting as it does the great Hemlo gold mine of Barrick, as well as such famous names as Sudbury, Detour, Red Lake, Kirkland Lake, and Eagle River.

When it’s all added up, Ontario comes out as Canada’s biggest producer of gold, platinum and nickel, and the second largest producer of copper.

And it’s likely to continue to be a major contributor to Canada’s and the world’s metal output for years to come.

Major investment is still going into the province, and new mines are regularly being brought into production. Detour Lake is a famous recent example of a new mine, but also pinging loudly on the radar is the billion dollars apiece that Alamos Gold has put into its Young-Davidson and Island mines.

The spaces may be wide open and the terrain sometimes challenging in Ontario, but this is also one of the most well established areas in the world to go mining, with some of the deepest know-how, both at an industry and a regulatory level, and some of the best mineral endowments you can find anywhere on planet earth.

That’s why we’re in there, and why we’re in there big.

But we’re not the only ones.

As you know, part of the northern portion of our portfolio comprises the West Pickle Lake project, which we hold in joint venture with Palladium One, and from which we’ve just released some highly encouraging nickel sulphide assays.

Palladium One is has already invested many millions of dollars on the other side of the JV tenement line at its own wholly-owned Tyko project, and it’s not the only company pouring money into Ontario.

Estimates put the total mining exploration spend for 2022 in Canada at C$3.7bn, and a significant portion of that will go into the province of Ontario, portions of which still remain significantly underexplored.

How do we know they’re underexplored?

Because we hold licences over a good portion of that ground, and our chief exploration consultant, Bruce MacLachlan, has been working the area for around three decades. He’s found three mines already, and reckons he can find at least one more.

Some of the ground we’re working on now, he knew from his days at Noranda. But back then they had their hands full with other projects and didn’t have time for our prospects. Now, though, he’s back.

And if he does indeed help us to make a major discovery, one thing we’re confident of – we couldn’t be in a better jurisdiction.

Ontario: In the right place at the right time