Noranda pushing on despite lack of investor interest.

• Author: Nash, Jeff
• Position: Noranda Exploration Company Ltd. - Mining Report

Matheson's gold potential is well known in geological circles, but the sliding price of gold and a lack of investor interest has rendered the region a "no man's land" when it comes to exploration.

Only companies such as Noranda, with tempered exploration budgets and mines that were able to make positive production decisions prior to the investment crash, have kept the gold fires burning.

St. Andrew Goldfields Ltd.'s Stock Township Mine and American Barrick Resource's Holt-McDermott Mine are the only two mines producing in the Matheson region. Royal Oak Resources' Ross Mine in Hislop Township was closed in 1989.

The Stock Mine has more than 12 miles of unexplored prime territory sitting directly atop the Destor-Porcupine fault - the same fault that fostered the famous Timmins gold camp. No drills have touched ground on the property in 1991.

Nevertheless, the published mineable ore reserve at the Stock Mine is about 200,000 tons grading at .165 ounces of gold per ton.

The mine's two-year-old mill is currently churning 550 tons of ore per day, down from 1,000 tons. The Ministry of the Environment limited the mill to 550 tons. Some of the ore feeding the mill comes from Goldpost Resources. St. Andrew inked a deal with Goldpost a year ago whereby St. Andrew mines Goldpost's Hislop East gold deposit and keeps half of the profits.

Immediately available reserves at the Hislop East property were estimated in late 1990 at 285,000 tons of ore grading at .18 ounces of gold per ton. The total estimated reserves on the property have been pegged at 835,544 tons grading at .17 ounces of gold per ton.

Most of the exploration and mining companies that have managed to weather the shattered investment market are focusing on either Hislop, Beatty, Harker or Holloway townships.

American Barrick's Holt-McDermott Mine is the best example of that. Claimed by both Kirkland Lake and Matheson as "their mine." Holt-McDermott is located in the Harker-Holloway goldfields.

$300 MARK

Gold production from the region's newest mine began in 1989 at Holt-McDermott's 1,500-ton-per-day mill. The mine has remained healthy because the cost to produce an ounce of gold has been kept below the $300 mark.

The company is currently exploring the Mattawasaga Zone. In 1990 proven and probable reserves...