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Project History and Previous Exploration

Gold was first discovered at the Ardeen Gold Project in 1870. This discovery led to the development of northern Ontario’s first gold mine in 1872.

Commercial scale production from the Ardeen Gold Mine was only achieved during the period 1932-1936, when 29,629 ounces of gold and 170,463 ounces of silver were recovered from 143,724 tonnes of ore. The mine closed when Ardeen Gold Mines Ltd declared bankruptcy at the end of 1936, while sinking a winze in the highest-grade material ever mined. A 32 tonne sample from this winze development reportedly averaged 78 g/t gold.

According to reports the ore body was mined from two parallel quartz vein systems (the No 1 and No 2 veins) which vary in thickness but average between 0.9 and 1.2m. The ore body dips steeply to the north (~70^o), but becomes shallower to the south (~50-70^o), and with depth (below the 247m level).

Gold mineralisation is hosted by quartz veins, with high-grade mineralisation commonly associated with pyrite, chalcopyrite, galena and sphalerite. Occasional free gold is observed. Significant silver is also associated with the mineralisation at a ratio of 1 to 6 (gold to silver).

The mine infrastructure comprised three shafts and eight levels of development over 850 metres of strike. Primary access was by way of a 3-compartment vertical shaft (the No 2 shaft) to a depth of 381 metres. Eight lateral levels of development were constructed 38 metres vertically apart. An inclined 38 metre long winze was sunk at the northeastern end of the 305 metre level to provide access to the 323 metre and 381 metre levels.

 

Longitudinal Section (facing to the northwest) of the Ardeen Gold Deposit showing stoped ore and
underground development. Also highlighted at the lower levels of the mine area the results of underground
face sampling with interval width and grade (g/t) gold

 

Following the termination of mining at the Ardeen Gold Mine in 1936, little exploration was conducted in the district until the 1970s. From the 1970s until the 1990s, claim ownership was largely fragmented. Isolated prospecting, sampling, geophysical activities and drilling programs were undertaken, with the majority of activity focused on the Ardeen Gold Deposit and the immediate surrounds. The information available from historic reports is difficult to validate and is not commented upon other than anecdotally noting that numerous promising gold results were obtained from this work.

In the mid-1990s, Pele Mountain Resources Inc. (Pele) consolidated claim ownership in the district and undertook the first modern exploration. Work completed by Pele between 1996 and 2003 included line cutting, rock, channel and till geochemical sampling, geological mapping and prospecting, ground geophysics surveys (VLF EM, ground magnetics and IP), mechanical surface stripping, trenching, washing and sampling, and diamond drilling (153 holes for 13,486 metres).

 

Historic Pele core storage at the Ardeen Gold Project

 

Most of the work was concentrated on gold bearing shear zones to the southeast of the Ardeen Gold Deposit, including the Fisher, Trench 1 and Trench 2 prospects, as well as other known gold occurrences to the west of the Ardeen Gold Deposit, including the McKellar, Minoletti and Beaver prospects.

Since 2003, Pele has farmed out the property to two other companies, Goldcorp Inc. (Goldcorp) and a Joint Venture between East-West Resources Corporation and Maple Minerals Corporation (East-West/Maple JV). Goldcorp completed a limited exploration program targeting a number of historic gold occurrences (including the Ardeen Gold Mine and the Fisher prospect) with seven deep holes, drilled with the corporate objectives of a major gold producer in terms of deposit size. These holes all intersected mineralisation, but Goldcorp completed no further work. The East-West/Maple JV focused on testing VTEM targets mainly to the south and west of the Ardeen Gold Mine.