EXPLOR GETS COVERAGE/geology.com/canada/ontario.shtml" style="">Ontarioand particularly, Quebec, which is the best mining jurisdiction on the planet. Within those provinces, our favorite exploration company remainsExplor Resources Inc. (TSX.V:EXS). We maintain that, over time, Explor's Timmins Porcupine West property, adjacent to Lakeshore Gold's Thunder Creek discovery of 2009, will prove to be one of the most significant gold discoveries in the Timmins West camp. Explor is close to unlocking the secrets of what could be an "elephant-type" discovery modeled around the Hollinger-McIntyre-Conorarium Model, which is a 30 Moz. model. An elephant in the junior exploration game is an ore body that takes on, just like it sounds—elephant status, something huge.
TGR:Since you like Explor so much, can you elaborate a little more on its prospects?
MB:First let me say in the interest of full disclosure that I am a shareholder and our firm and I have been corporate finance and investment banking representatives for this company since May 2007. Explor is in the heart of the Abitibi Greenstone belt, which is a geological environment stretching from north of Duluth, Minnesota, across the top of Ontario and into northern Quebec. Over the last 120 years, the Abitibi Greenstone Belt has produced 180 Moz. of gold and 450 Mts. of copper-zinc ore.
I'm very impressed with Explor's CEO and president, Chris Dupont, who is a seasoned ex-Inco, ex-Noranda mining engineer born in the heart of the Abitibi. He knows the area very well. The land package that Explor has put together is the biggestqualitypackage of any junior I've ever seen and it is largely within the Abitibi Greenstone Belt.
As I mentioned, the one that is the most exciting in the gold arena right now is an acquisition they made in 2009 in the Timmins Porcupine, west of the Mattagomi River in Timmins, Ontario. Over the last 100 years, 70 Moz. of gold have been produced out of Timmins.
On June 25, 2009, in an area west of Timmins, a junior calledLake Shore Gold Corp. (TSX:LSG)made a discovery at 83m of 12 ¾g at an elevation of 865m of depth. This was the first of its kind west of the Mattagami. In fact, it was one of the best drill holes in Canadian gold mining and exploration history. Explor has a 1,900-hectare parcel of ground called The Timmins Porcupine West Gold Property, which has had around $25M of shallow exploration work completed over the years. Explor is executing a deep exploration program following the Hollinger-McIntyre model, which is significant because those two mines (located about 10 km. to the east) produced over 30 Moz. and, like Explor's land, were associated with a major porphyry unit.
The second major package is the first serious land package assembled in over 40 years, located next to the world's largest and richest volcanogenic massive sulfide deposit,Xstrata PLC's (LSE:XTA)Kidd Creek Mine. It was a 140 Mts. copper-zinc-lead-silver deposit that would have an in situ metal value ofover $70 billionat today's metal prices. The most recent addition to that assemblage is a four-claim block located 600m from the Kidd open pit.
The third property, called the East Bay property, is located in the Duparquet region of Quebec, and is tied onto the Clifton Star-Osisko joint venture. WhenClifton Star Resources Inc. (TSX.V:CFO)announced a joint venture withOsisko Mining Corp. (TSX:OSK)on November 3, 2009, their stock was trading around $2.35/share. Within three months of that joint venture announcement, the stock traded as high as $8.25/share. They have a low-grade, big-tonnage, big-ounce deposit in that area and Explor has the biggest land package surrounding that deposit.