At Sherridon, 70 kilometres northeast of Flin Flon, Halo Resources used a helicopter carrying sophisticated equipment to survey the area around the old Sherritt-Gordon mine, identifying 125 previously undetected "hot spots."

"It's like fishing. We know there are fish down there. We've got to start to throw the line out and catch a few," he said. "We can't tell you what kind of fish we're going to catch, but there are some big fish there."

"Coming to Manitoba is like a breath of fresh air. People are going out of their way to try to encourage junior explorers such as us to come and do business here," he said, adding that the provincial government has agreed not to force Halo or any partners to clean up an environmental mess from the previous mine.