Overview of Orex Exploration


Orex Exploration is a Canadian advanced stage junior gold exploration company headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. It operates in Nova Scotia, Canada with a focus on exploring former gold mines and properties in the Goldboro, Nova Scotia, and surrounding areas of Guysborough County, Nova Scotia.[3]

The properties owned by Orex were the sites of the former BostonRichardson Mine, Dolliver Mountain Mine, West Goldbrook Mine, and EastGoldbrook Mine which operated between 1892 and 1912.

Property Description

Orex's Goldboro main property consists of 37 contiguous claims (600 hectares) held under license from the Province of Nova Scotia. It is located along the eastern shore of Nova Scotiaand is wholly owned by Orex. The property is situated 185 kilometersnortheast of Halifax and is accessible by a 2.5 kilometer unpaved roadfrom

Highway 316 which links the village of Goldboro, Nova Scotia to the town of Antigonish, NS.[4] The main project location is found at Latitude: 45º 10´ North ; Longitude: 61º 40´ West (NTS 11F/04)

On November 26, 2009, following a Joint Venture Agreement with Osisko Mining,Orex staked hundreds of additional contiguous claims which cover 960.8square kilometers surrounding the Goldboro strike area. The current mapof these claims highlighted in yellow is below. Initial exploration onthese claims is now underway.

Orex Mining Claims as of February 15, 2010[5]

Current Resource Estimates

In September 2009, Orex published a Mineral Resource Estimatecompliant with National Instrument 43-101 standards. They presented theresource estimate with a variety of cut off grades, the two most notableare represented below:[6]

With a cut-off grade of 0.5 g/t Au, the Mineral Resource was as follows:

  • 519,000 tonnes grading 3.08 g/t AU (51,400 ounces) within the Measured category
  • 7,414,000 at 2.06 g/t Au (491,400 ounces) within the Indicated category; and
  • 7,933,000 grading 2.13 g/t Au (542,800 ounces) within the Inferred category.

The Measured and Indicated Resource represents a total of 15,866,000 tonnes grading 2.21 g/t Au (1,085,600 ounces).

The Results of the 2009 Mineral Resource Estimate with a cut-off grade of 1.50 g/t Au are as follows:

  • 270,000 tonnes grading 4.99 g/t Au (43,300 ounces) within the Measured category
  • 2,441,000 tonnes at 5.99 g/t Au (353,900 ounces) within the Indicated category; and
  • 3,438,000 tonnes grading 3.67 g/t Au (405,900 ounces) within the Inferred category.

The Measured and Indicated Resource represents a total of 2,711,000 tonnes grading 4.56 g/t Au (397,200 ounces).


A major issue with this estimate was that 96 DD samples used inprevious reserve estimates were dropped from the model due to less thancomplete historic sampling required for the new geological model beingused. This resulted in a significantly lower than expected resource.Orex is currently resampling the areas that these holes covered as wellas new areas.

Joint Venture with Osisko

On November 12, 2009, Orex signed an Option and Joint Venture agreement with Osisko Mining.[7]

The key terms of the agreement are:

  • Osisko invested $1.3million in Orex and received 13,000,000 shares at a price of
    .10/share
  • Osisko received 13,000,000 transferable warrants to acquire one common share at a price of $.125/share over a period of 3 years
  • Osisko receives a 50% interest in the property before September 29, 2013 if it incurs exploration/development expenditures of:
    • $1,500,000 before September 29, 2010
    • $3.5 million (aggregate) on or before September 29, 2011
    • $8.0 million (aggregate) on or before September 29, 2013
  • Osisko may receive a 60% interest in the property if it completes a prefeasibility study before September 29, 2015

Between November 12, 2009 and September 29, 2015 Osisko is themanager of the project, with a joint management committee during theoption period with two representatives from each party. This ManagementCommittee will be responsible for revising programs submitted by Osiskoand for approving and evaluating the results of all programs. Osisko hasthe tie casting vote.

 

Current Exploration Activities

On January 27th, 2010 Orex and Osisko began their first joint exploration.[8]A three-part campaign was planned with two drills. Osisko began withthe 4,728 m / 18 holes Phase 2F drilling campaign, to some incompleteand/or non-compliant historic drill results with compliant dataprimarily in the deeper portions of the Ramp Area Mineral Resources andextending westward towards West Goldbrook. Following Phase 2F, Osiskocontinued with the Phases 2D (5,492 m / 28 holes) and 2E (2,769 m / 13holes) drilling campaigns, which continued westward along the remaining1.7 km segment of the Boston Richardson Deformation Zone from the Rampthrough West Goldbrook to Dolliver Mountain.

As of April 29, 2010 all 59 holes for the Phases 2D, 2E and 2F drilling campaign, representing 12,989 metres, were completed. [9]

During the same period Nova Scotia based Mercator Geological ServicesLimited and D.R. Duncan & Associates Ltd., were retained andcompleted a regional compilation-synthesis on the 960.8 km2 GoldboroExtension Property. A number of key Goldboro-type gold targets wereidentified and are currently being drill-tested using the ReverseCirculation ("RC") method to recover basal till and bedrock samples forgold assaying and whole-rock analysis. To date 194 RC drill holes arecompleted for 1,513 meters and 758 samples taken.[10]

 

Geological Interpretation

The property is located within the Meguma Supergroup of the easternCanada Appalachian Belt. The property is entirely underlain bysedimentary rocks of the Goldenville Group, which consist of alteredgreywacke, sandstone (arenite), and slate. The stratigraphic sedimentarysuccession f the Goldboro area is affected by the Upper Seal Harbouranticline. This anticline is an upright, ENE-trending tight fold with a10° to 30° plunge to the east. In the apex of the anticline, the slateunits are thicker than other sedimentary rock types.

The Goldboro mineralization has been previously referred to as a“saddle reef” lode-gold deposit type. In Nova Scotia, theBoston-Richardson mine (Upper Seal Harbour district) is a classicexample of a “saddle reef” deposit. The gold mineralization at Goldborooccurs in association with and within a quartz vein swarm located in thehinges of regional anticlines, principally in black shale-argillitewall rocks. As such, Goldboro is not a classic “saddle reef” lode golddeposit type. The fine-grained folded sedimentary units have a constantthickness in the limb but not in the hinge of the fold, suggestingflexural-slip as the folding mechanism. Many key features within thegold deposits of the Upper Seal Harbour district show that the foldingitself should be considered as the gold mineralizing process.

Gold mineralization at Goldboro occurs in quartz veins anddisseminated sulphides in the wall rock. The mineralized wall rockmostly, but not dxclusively, consists of shale-argillite (slate).Locally, the greywacke and arenite are cut by quartz veins and aremineralized. The veins are characterized by quartz, sulphide (auriferousarsenopyrite) and native gold (visible gold flakes have historicallybeen observed in several slate belts). Wall rocks generally contain moresulphides than the veins, in the form of arsenopyrite selvedges.

 

Faribault

In 1885, E.R. Faribault mapped Nova Scotia's gold fields for theGeological Survey Department (Government of Canada). He focused on theintricate folds in the gold-bearing formations along the southeast coastof Nova Scotia known as the Meguma Group. He recognized that the goldoccurred like saddles along the crests of small anticlines and hediscovered many large and small ore bodies. His discoveries werecritical to the present knowledge of the location of gold in NovaScotia.[11]

In 1893, Map #27 by the Geological Survey Department was produced byE.R. Faribault to illustrate a report commissioned by the Departmentfrom Hugh Fletcher and E.R. Faribault in 1886. This map (below)illustrates the extensive known gold fields in the areas aroundGoldboro. Many of these properties are currently claimed by OrexExploration, while some others are held by other mineral claim holders.In addition detailed cross sections of the Isaac's Harbour gold districtand also of the Boston Richardson mine were produced by Faribault(below).

Province of Nova Scotia, Guysborough County, Isaacs Harbour, Sheet No 27[12]
Plan and Sections, Isaacs Harbour Gold District, Guysborough County, Nova Scotia [13]
Plan and Sections, Upper Seal Harbour, Guysborough County, Nova Scotia [14]

 

Nugget Effect

A major hurdle for Orex has been to evaluate the gold content of themineralized belts. The gold distribution is subject to a severe “nuggeteffect” with a strong segregation component. In the case of Goldboro,gold appears as large nuggets, fine disseminations within or borderingarsenopyrite crystals and fine gold grains associated with carbonaceousmaterial. This particular distribution of gold grains may explain thefact that regular assaying methods (A.A.; F.A; metallics) yield lowergold values than a metallurgical balance from mill-tests.

Historically, the severe “nugget effect” produced by the extremevariability in gold size and distribution within the Goldboromineralized belts forced companies to implement a number of sampling andgrade determination programs. The nugget effect is so extreme thatcollecting and processing samples of a size adequate enough to overcomethe nugget effect is problematic using conventional analytical methods.The programs have resulted in a wide variety of sample types tested byseveral different processing protocols on the initial and sub-splitsample sizes. Sample types have included:

  • surface and underground grab samples,
  • surface and underground drill core samples,
  • drill sludge samples,
  • drill core composite samples,
  • underground chip samples,
  • underground muck samples, and
  • underground bulk samples.

The results from these tests clearly demonstrated that undersizedinitial samples and/or improper sub-split sizes for the crush and/orgrind sizes could produce imprecise determinations of grade.

 

Bendigo Ballarat

Many comparisons have been made between the gold deposits of theGoldfields area of Central Victoria (Australia) and the Meguma depositsof Nova Scotia (Canada). The comparisons show that these deposits sharenumerous similarities but also display some differences. [15]

The comparisons between deposits in the Goldfields area of Australiaand Meguma deposits in Nova Scotia could have a significant impact forgold exploration at Goldboro and elsewhere in Nova Scotia. TheAustralian examples demonstrate that narrow quartz vein gold deposits,similar to those in Nova Scotia, can be mined profitably. Furthermore,it also demonstrates that low-grade concentrations of gold (1-2 g/t Au)can be mined as economically viable deposits. At Bendigo, 22 Millionounces of gold have been produced since 1851, and about 12 Millionounces of gold have been produced at Ballarat since 1850. Explorationprograms in Australia demonstrate that the grade of mineralized veinscannot be assessed without bulk sampling, and where applicable, declinesmust be an integral part of the exploration strategy.

This comparison indicates that a potential for a larger deposits exists on Orex's property.

 

High Grade/Low Grade

Two different approaches to geological modeling can be used forresource estimation at Goldboro: the mineralized zones can beinterpreted as either: (i) narrower and higher grade folded belts (aboutsixteen (16) belts); or (ii) they can be grouped into larger structuraldomains (about four (4) domains). For the 2009 Mineral ResourceEstimate, the first approach (e.g., individual belts rather thandomains) was used. In both approaches, the higher grade material is insimilar locations—fold hinges where maximum dilation seems to haveoccurred—although differences can occur in the distribution of lowergrade material. Some tests have been completed using the two differentapproaches, and both models gave similar totals for contained ounces.

 

History

A very detailed history of the mines and the works found on the property prior to 1915 can be found in Naert, Karl A. (March 1988) [1988], Reviewof the Exploration Program Performed by Onitap Resources Inc. in theGoldboro Area .... Development License No. 0114, March, 1988, Scarborough: Narex Ore Search Consultants Inc., pp. 24-35, http://www.gov.ns.ca/natr/meb/data/ar/1988/AR_ME_1988-132.pdf  a summary is presented below.

 

Boston Richardson Mine

In 1861 gold was discovered in quartz veins on the Isaac's Harbouranticline. In 1892, Howard Richardson was the first to note gold withinshale and quartz veins which became generally known as the BostonRichardson Belt. Mining on the property began in 1892 when theRichardson Gold Mining Company started developing the belt.[16]

In 1896 the mine was operating at full capacity and by 1897 threeshafts gave access to the ore at a depth of 60m. By 1900 the the mainshaft was 160m deep and selective mining methods were being used and twoWilfley Concentrators were in operation. Two additional concentratorswere installed in 1901. In 1902 another shaft was sunk which becameknown as the Boston Richardson Shaft, and which is still in existence tothe present day.[17]

The Boston Richardson Mining Company took over the property in 1903and resumed work on the Boston Richardson shaft which they extended to adepth of 122m which by 1905. A bromo-cyanide plant was built on theproperty in 1906 and gold recovery went up to 70%. The main shaft hadreached a depth of 213m by 1902. Operations were stopped on August 15th,1908 because of financial difficulties. In 1909 the New England MiningCompany took over operations until 1912. [18]

In 1926 the Metals Mining and Smelting Corporation of Canada acquiredthe property and attempted to recover gold from the old mine tailings.[19]

Goldboro, NS. A train is seen coaling on the wharf near a waiting schooner.[20]
Richardson Gold Mine, NS[21]
Surface plant of the Boston Richardson Mining Co., Upper Seal Harbour[22]
Horizontal Projection of Survey Down East Shaft Made After Cave In of the Richardson Mine[23]
Boston-Richardson Mine-Vertical Shaft and Vertical Projection of Incline Shaft Showing Depth Reached and Distance Driven South Side[24]
Cross-Sections of the Boston-Richardson Mine[25]
Cross-Sections of the North and South Side of the Boston-Richardson Mine[26]
Plan Projections and Transverse Section of Underground Workings of Boston-Richardson Mine[27]
New England Mining Company Stock Certificate[28]

 

Dolliver Mountain Mine

An underground mine was active on Dolliver Mountain between 1901 and1905. Dolliver mountain is located to the west of the Boston RichardsonShaft. In 1902 the shaft had a depth of 58m and intersected three orebelts on of which (the "Partington Belt") was 10m in width. In 1903 theshaft reached a depth of 81m and intersected the "Forge Belt" which was7m in width. By 1904 the shaft was 149m deep and in 1905 a 152m drillhole was drilled from the bottom of the shaft which intersected severalmore bodies of quartz and slate. The mine has remained idle since 1905.[29]

View of stamp mill and portion of ore tramway.[30]
Surface plant of Dolliver Mountain Gold Mining Co., Upper Seal Harbour[31]
Dolliver Mountain Mine, Upper Isaacs Harbour Gold District, Guysborough,Nova Scotia County[32]

West Goldbrook Mine

The West Gold Brook mine is located west of the Boston RichardsonShaft. Between 1909 and 1910 five ore belts were discovered in the WestGold Brook Mine. Milling tests on the ore from three of the belts wasnot satisfactory and the mine was abandoned. Locarno Copper Mines Ltd.Sank a new shaft west of the original one between 1929 and 1931. In 1931a metallurgical test recovered 1.61 ounces of gold from 1.1 Short tonsof ore. In 1956 The Canso Mining Corporation dewatered the Locarno shaftand did some basic exploration but work was stopped due to financialdifficulty.[33]

 

East Goldbrook Mine

In 1907 a shaft was sunk \to the east of the Boston Richardson shaft.In 1908 three ore belts were discovered and some rich ore wasdiscovered in one, but no further work is noted. The East Goldbrookshaft was dewatered between 1931 and 1934 by Renada Mines Ltd. whosampled the workings and assaying gave results between 1.61 to 4.26 g/tAu.[34]

East Goldbrook Mine Plan 150' Level[35]

 

Modern Exploration

 

1980 to 1989

Very little additional work is documented about the property until1981 when exploration by by a series of junior exploration companiesresumed.

In 1981 Pantino Mines Ltd. did some geophysical surveys and in 1984 a529m diamond drill hole was drilled on the Boston Richardson Belt. In1985 five diamond drill holes will drilled on the former West Gold Brookmine. Each hole intercepted many slate beds but few samples were taken.[36]

In 1987 Petromet Resources Ltd. and Greenstrike Gold corporation drilled an additional 5 diamond drill holes[37] [38]and late in the year Omnitap Resources Inc. completed and additional 33diamond drill holes. Helicopter borne magnetic and EM-16 surveys werealso conducted.[39][40]The goal of this campaign was to establish the depth and breadth of theBoston Richardson Belt. It was also targeted at the East Goldbrookproperty and on targets under the Boston Richardson Belt. It lead to thedetection of four additional belts under the Boston Richardson Belt andadditional belts over the Boston Richardson Belt in the East Goldbrookarea. These belts showed impressive gold values and visible gold wasfound in almost every hole.

The option on the property was conveyed to Orex Exploration in 1988.

In 1988 a surface and underground exploration program was undertakento cover the property to the west of the Boston Richardson Mine.[41][42]Course gold was found in quartz veins and free gold was found ingraphite black shale and fourteen belts of gold bearing ore had beenidentified. During 1988 the Boston Richardson Mine shaft wasrehabilitated to facilitate an underground exploration program.[43][44] Orex Exploration sought ACOA funding to develop a new modern mine.[45] and sought Tenders for conducting a Pre-Feasibility and Feasibility Study.[46]Inaddition an access decline (often called "The Ramp" and "Ramp Area")was developed to validate the drilling results and muck sampling wasundertaken.

At the beginning of 1989 the company conducted a metallurgical teston muck samples from 1988 and found that the results were much higherthan those determined using atomic absorption sampling on core samplesfrom the same areas. (3.3g/t for cyanidition version 2.0g/t for atomicabsorption). A milling test on several new diamond drill holes wasconducted.[47]

In 1989 the company also completed a Pre-Feasibility and two feasibility Studies.

The Pre-Feasibility study recommended underground mining, a standardgravity/floatation mill and concluded that a profit of $40 per ton wouldbe realized. [48]

The first feasibility study expanded on the pre-feasibility study anddescribed three possible options, two of which involved variations on aportable 500 metric ton/day mill and underground mining, and the thirdoption involved open pit mining, selective underground mining and a5,000 metric ton/day mill. All scenarios were considered economicallyviable but the third option of an open pit mine and large mill wasconsidered to have the largest possible return to shareholders and wasthe recommended option.[49]

The second feasibility study was produced two months after the firstand recommended only a modified sub-level retreat mining methodologywith no mention of the open pit mining option described in the firstfeasibility study. It concluded that this was economical within thecapital available to the company.[50]

The company then notified the Department of the Environment for theProvince of Nova Scotia of its intent to proceed with a Gold MiningProject.[51]The company proposed to undertake open pit mining and recover the goldusing a gravitational mill with flotation process and cyanideprocessing. A public meeting was held as part of this process on March27, 1989 with the major concerns being the environmental controlrequirements from the government, possible stream contamination and sitereclamation.[52]

The company also produced an Economic Evaluation of the project in1989 which estimated an average 195 direct jobs and 293 indirect jobswould be created per year in the first 4 years and 240 direct jobs insubsequent years. The evaluation stated that direct economic benefits of$13 million could be expected in the first four years in theGuysborough County area. In addition, it forecast expenditures of $70million in initial capital investment for equipment and machinery andsubsequent expenditures of $12.8 million per year - much of which was tobe sourced in the Guysborough and Antigonish Counties. The total valueof the project to the community was forecast to be $123.25 million inthe first four years of operation.[53]

Between 1989 and 1990 additional underground definition drilling wasundertaken and two underground bulk samples of 7 metric tons were minedout.

 

1990 to 2004

Between 1990 and 1993 very little exploration work occurred on theproperty while a scientific debate raged about the correct way toaccurate measure the gold deposit's grade and numerous technical reportsand assessments were completed.

In 1990 the terms of reference for an environmental assessment were produced[54] and the environment assessment was conducted. The assessment concluded "No significant negative impacts are anticipated."[55]

The main controversy was whether the deposit was a high grade deposit(due to the presence of large numbers of gold nuggets) or low gradedeposit (due to the fine gold found in the slate belts). Conventionalfire assays were yielding significantly lower grade results thanmetallurgical tests which were consistently returning high graderesults. Continous Grind Leach techniques were evaluated under optionwith Minnova Inc., but did not yield satisfactory results. In 1992 a VatLeach test was conducted with Novagold (under option) which yieldedgrades of 4-6g/t Au with an 84% recovery rate. NovaGold was forced todrop its option due to financial difficulties.

In 1993 Orex drilled six more diamond drill holes to evaluate theextent of the high grade resource. The results were analyzed by CRM labsand were just as problematic, returning the same results as found byMinnova, but with large amounts of gold being found unrecovered by thesampling protocol. This was due to the high nugget effect and thefailure of the large gold nuggets to dissolve in the cyanideconcentrations.

Placer Dome contacted Orex in 1995 and offered to assist as they hadencountered similar sampling problems in the past. Placer sampled thestock pile of ore recovered in 1988-89 in a very methodical way. Theytook samples of four types of rock: Greywacke, Slate, Quartz Vein andVein. They discarded any samples with visible gold. The results wereextremely encouraging showing 1g/t in Greywacke, 2.82g/t in Slate, 16.15g/t in Quartz Vein and 36.37 g/t in veins.[56]

In 1995 Placer Dome offered $30 million to acquire a 65% interest in the Goldboro property. Placer Domeproceeded to obtain environmental releases from the Province of NovaScotia for past mining environmental problems (related to the turn ofthe century activities) delays in obtaining this release meantexploration did not start again until late in 1995. Due to budgetcutbacks, conventional sampling was reinstated with a return to theprevious "low grade" results. In 1996 Placer dome dropped its option inorder to focus on international properties and other ventures.[57]

The site was essentially abandoned between 1996 and 2004. The shafthouse and mechanical buildings were significantly vandalized, and all ofthe core samples were largely lost.

 

2004 to 2009

In February 2004, MRB & Associates was retained by Orex toprepare an independent technical report on the Goldboro property. Thereport was a joint effort between a team of independent consultants(InnovExplo Inc., A.S. Horvath Consulting, Tech2Mine Inc., and MRB &Associates), supervised by Jean Lafleur, M.Sc. (Senior TechnicalAdvisor to Orex).

One of the reasons for this independent study was to review thegeology of the Goldboro property and Meguma district in Nova Scotia, andcompare the characteristics of Meguma-style deposits to those of theBendigo and Ballarat deposits in the Lachlan fold belt of CentralVictoria, Australia. Another purpose was to review historical samplingand analytical grade determination procedures at Goldboro and provide anassessment of the data quality and suitability of these historicalresults as they pertain to:

  • mineralization characteristics and recommendations for future sampling, grade determination, and QA/QC protocols;
  • data quality and integrity for use in resource/reserve estimation, and;
  • comparison of the sampling, analytical determination and reserve estimation methods with those used at deposits in the Bendigo-Ballarat district.

The conclusions and recommendations stemming from the study set thestage for the 2005 exploration program undertaken by Orex, specificallythe conclusions regarding grade determinations. Horvath made thefollowing conclusions (among others):

  • Historical conventional sampling, processing and analytical gold determination protocols consistently under-estimated the grade due to the extreme nugget effect;
  • The only reliable method of obtaining accurate and precise grade determinations for Goldboro mineralized samples is by metallurgical testing/processing of adequately sized representative samples.

Orex began an exploration program in February 2005. Twenty-three (23)diamond drill holes of HQ diameter core were completed for a total of2,355 metres (BR05-001 to BR05-023). Drilling was concentrated in a225-metre wide area, centred on Section 8675E of the Boston Richardsonbelt. The individual sample weight was estimated to be 7.75 kg per metreof recovered core.

The purpose of the drill program was to test a small area of knownshallow mineralized zones by drilling fences of holes on a spacing of nogreater than 25 metres between sections. The proposed pattern ofdrilling and number of holes was designed to allow two (2) separateshallow areas to be similarly tested. Four (4) holes were twinned toprevious holes for comparative analysis. Recognized mineralized zoneswere assayed using conventional fire assay with an atomic absorption orgravimetric finish, and at the end of the program, sample composites(made by combining reject samples from multiple drill holes previouslyanalyzed by conventional fire assay) were made and sent to LakefieldResearch for metallurgical testing. A resource estimate in compliancewith CIM Definitions and Standards on Mineral Resources and MineralReserves was undertaken at the end of the program by P & E MiningConsultants Inc. using the metallurgical sample results (Armstrong,Puritch and Horvath, 2006).

Orex began an exploration program in February 2008 that consisted of adiamond drill program comprising 12,201.5 metres in forty-five (45)holes (also refer to Section 11 (Item 13) of this report). The averagedrill hole length was 250 metres. Drilling was concentrated between WestGoldbrook and East Goldbrook on Crown Land surface rights. The purposeof the drill program was to infill the previous drill programs and testthe extensions of gold mineralization to the east and west of theBoston-Richardson zone.

In September 2009, Orex commissioned a Mineral Resource Estimate which was compliant with National Instrument 43-101.

 

Past Resource Estimates

 

2006 Resource Estimate

In 2006 P&E Mining consultants was commissioned to produce a newNI43-101 compliant Resource estimate based on the results from the new2005 drilling campaign.[58]

There was no new resource calculation for the entire strike length --only an update to the 225-m portion within the Ramp Area (which wasnewly drilled with large bore samples) was calculated. The reconciledresources outside the 225-m strike length of the Ramp Area for theremainder of the 1.5-km strike length was 800,800 ounces tabulated asfollows:

Area Classification Tonnes Grade (g/t) Oz AU
Ramp Measured 481,000 3.40 52,600
Outside Ramp Measured 274,00 1.21 10,700
Ramp Indicated 755,000 2.61 183,400
Outside Ramp Indicated 12,500,000 0.75 238,100
Outside Ramp Inferred 15,600,000 0.63 316,000

2004 Resource Estimate

In 2004 Orex commissioned MRB & Associates to produce an NI43-101compliant resource estimate based on past exploration activities andavailable data. The Technical report concluded that the resource definedat that point was 644,000 oz as summarized in the table below. Itshould be noted that this estimate did not apply any correction factorsfor the extreme nugget effect.[59]

Area Category Metric Tonnes g/t Au Oz AU
Boston Richardson Area Measured 755,000 1.21 29,300

Indicated 12,500,000 0.75 301,000

Inferred 13,255,000 0.78 175,500
West Goldbrook Area Inferred 8,600,000 0.50 138,200

 

1990 Ore Reserve Calculation

In 1990 an Ore Reserve Calculation was commissioned. It determinedbetween 1.4 and 2.4 million ounces of gold would be found on areassurrounding the former Boston Richardson shafts and the West Goldbrookmine:

  • Ramp Area: 755,002 tonnes @ 1.19 to 2.42 g/t
  • Main Ore Body: 19,500,000 tonnes @ 0.75 to 3.37 g/t
  • West Goldbrook Area: 8,614,817 tonnes @ 0.53 to 0.84 g/t

This estimate explicitly excluded the East Goldbrook areas from thesecalculations and suggested that these areas could contain 10 milliontons of ore with a grade of 2.8g/ton..[60]

 

1989 Ore Reserve Calculation

An Ore Reserve calculation was produced by St-Michel Geoconseil in1989 specific to the access portal ramp area. It concluded there was1,068,547 metric tons of ore grading 6.2g/ton (un-cut) of gold forapproximately 205,000 oz of gold in the area of the ramp.[61]

 

1988 Ore Reserve Calculation

In 1988 a non NI43-101 compliant Ore Reserve Calculation was compiledby Narex Ore Search Consultants and concluded there was 1,102,036 tons @0.194oz/ton indicated ore, for a total indication of 213,694oz of gold.[62]

 

Pre-1981

Reliable production figures are only available for the BostonRichardson belt. From 1893 to 1912 mine production was recorded as 414887 short tons grading 0.132 Oz/T (376 383 tonnes grading 4.53 g/t Au)for a total production of 54 871 ounces of gold. The head grade wasestimated to be considerably higher at 6.8 g/t Au but poor technology atthe time resulted in the lower recovered grade.[63]Anecdotal reports from the descendants of former miners indicate that acertain amount of loss due to theft occurred. This is possible due tothe nugget nature of the gold found in the belts. It has been said that alot more gold was taken out of the belts than was officially reported.Some claim that some mining families never worked for many decadesfollowing the closure of the mines yet always had money to spend.

 

References

  1. ^ "Orex Exploration Company Snapshot". http://www.fpinfomart.ca/fpsn/snap_display.php?key=fp. Retrieved 2010-08-05. 
  2. ^ "Orex Exploration Company Snapshot". http://www.fpinfomart.ca/fpsn/snap_display.php?key=fp. Retrieved 2010-08-05. 
  3. ^ "Financial Times Business Profile: OX". http://markets.ft.com/tearsheets/businessProfile.asp?s=OX:CVE. Retrieved 2010-08-05. 
  4. ^ Bourgoin, Mark (August 2004). Technical Report Goldboro Property. Val D'Or: MRB & Associates Mining Consultants. pp. 4. http://www.gov.ns.ca/natr/meb/data/ar/2004/AR_ME_2004-124.pdf. 
  5. ^ Province of Nova Scotia. "Orex Mining Claims as of February 15, 2010". Province of Nova Scotia. http://gis4.natr.gov.ns.ca/website/nsgeomap/viewer.htm?box=432700:4951500:591350:5068000&ActiveLayer=17&Layers=100000000000000001001111001011111111000000000000000000000111. Retrieved 22 August 2010. 
  6. ^ Gervais, Donald; Carrier, Alain; Brousseau, Karine (September 2009) [2009], TECHNICAL REPORT ON THE 2009 MINERAL RESOURCE ESTIMATE FOR THE GOLDBORO PROPERTY, Val-d’Or: InnovExplo, pp. 6-7, http://www.sedar.com/GetFile.do?lang=EN&docClass=24&issuerNo=00003447&fileName=/csfsprod/data100/filings/01476261/00000001/C%3A\Rapport.pdf 
  7. ^ OREX EXPLORATION INC. (November 12, 2009). "Orex and Osisko Sign Option and Joint Venture Agreement". Press release. http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/Orex-and-Osisko-Sign-Option-and-Joint-Venture-Agreement-TSX-VENTURE-OX-1075439.htm. Retrieved August 16, 2010. 
  8. ^ Orex Exploration (January 27, 2010). "Orex Exploration Inc.: 2010 Drilling Campaign Starts at Goldboro Gold Project, Nova Scotia". Press release. http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/Orex-Exploration-Inc-2010-Drilling-Campaign-Starts-Goldboro-Gold-Project-Nova-Scotia-TSX-VENTURE-OX-1108110.htm. Retrieved August 6, 2010. 
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  10. ^ Orex Exploration (June 10, 2010). "Orex Exploration Announces More Drill Results at Goldboro; Advances Regional Exploration Program". Press release. http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/Orex-Exploration-Announces-More-Drill-Results-Goldboro-Advances-Regional-Exploration-TSX-VENTURE-OX-1274314.htm. Retrieved August 6, 2010. 
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