Northern Star Mining is an aggressive advanced-stage exploration/development company based in Val-d'Or, Quebec. Its crown jewel, the Midway property, is an advanced gold project located in the heart of the renowned and prolific Abitibi Gold Belt in Quebec. The company also has 4 other promising exploration projects: the Malartic Break Project, Thompson River, Cadillac and the Cadillac AWG Claims.
KEY PROPERTY OVERVIEW
Midway Project
The Midway Project is a 100%, wholly-owned property which consists of 56 contiguous claims, comprising approximately 1,300 hectares, located 16 kilometres west of the city of Val-d'Or and one kilometer south of the Trans-Canada Highway.
The Midway property hosts the past producing 2 million ounce Malartic Goldfields Mine (Long Lac Minerals). These 2 million ounces of gold came from 23 individual zones grading 0.20 oz/t. The project contains 2 – 3,000 foot shafts and a head frame/hoist with depth capacity of 5,500 feet and operational capacity of 3,000 t/d. The Midway Project straddles the prolific Cadillac tectonic break, associated with most of the gold and base metals deposits of the Abitibi Mining camp. Total gold produced in the Abitibi camp to date is in excess of 60 million ounces
Northern Star has identified 10 new zones and expanded 4 previously known mineralized zones with average grades of 0.25 oz/t over 25 feet. A discovery was made below the old mine with one deep drill hole reaching a depth of 5,300 feet finding seven new zones in the process. The last intercept was 21 m of 9.4 g at 5,350 feet. The midway project is also showing the presence of lower-grade mineralization within porphyry type deposits of the Canadian Malartic (Osisko) or Goldex (Agnico Eagle) types finding 87m of 2.13 g, 97.5m of 1.77 g and 26m of 2.4g.
The Callahan Project is located 1.5km northeast of the Midway property and 1km north of the main Trans Canada highway. It consists of 79 claims comprising 2,181 hectares (5,387 acres), and is located adjacent to the northeast of the Company's Malartic-Midway project and contiguous to the west of Wesdome's Kiena gold operations.
The prospect is located amidst some of the largest gold producers in the Val d'Or gold camp of Northwestern Quebec, an area that has a historic gold production of 25 million ounces. Widespread gold mineralization has been identified by previous workers on the Callahan claims, however, the property has been lying dormant for the past 20 years & remains under-explored. Several companies such as Niogold and Wesdome are currently active in the areas surrounding Callahan. These companies are expanding zones of gold mineralization that are crossing onto the Callahan property.
Thirteen zones are presently known on the Callahan claims, with zones #1, #2, #4 ,#10 comprising significant importance. Highlights from these zones, as calculated on a Pre 43-101 basis, include:
Malartic Break Project
The Malartic Break Project consists of three claim groups totaling 20 claims and 864 hectares, all located approximately 25 km west of the city of Val d’Or, 4 km north and northwest of the town of Malartic, Quebec. This project is located 6 km northwest of the Company’s Midway gold project.
The Trans Canada Highway crosses the eastern boundary of the property in a N-S direction. The group consists of 14 claims totaling 594 hectares. The property is located on the Kewagama/Malartic group contact, a major tectonostratigraphic contact north of the Cadillac Tectonic zone. Numerous gold deposits are associated with this contact, the most notable being the past producing Camflo Mine (production of approximately 2 million ounces from 1965 to 1992), and are located 5 km east along strike from the property.
The second claim group, located 2 km west of claim group 1, consists of 4 claims totaling 170 hectares. It is also located along the Kewagama/Malartic contact. The Trans Canada Highway crosses the southern portion of the property in an east-west direction. The third claim group consists of 2 claims totaling 100 hectares and is located 1 km west of claim group 2, immediately south of the Kewagama/Malartic contact zone.
Thompson River Project
The Thompson River mineral claims were acquired due to their close proximity to the 1.6 million ounce Goldex deposit of Agnico-Eagle Mines. Goldex underwent a major shaft dewatering exercise that allowed Agnico to mine a bulk sample and further define the grade of the deposit. The Goldex Project was approved for construction by Agnico Eagles Board, with Gold production at Goldex expected in 2008, averaging 170,000 ounces per year at total cash costs of $200 per ounce.
The property comprises two mining claims covering approximately 70 hectares. They are located 500 meters due south of the Goldex project and some 7 km east of the Company's Midway project. The project is located immediately north of the Cadillac Tectonic zone and is crossed by a northeast trending fault that traverses the centre of the property. Geologically, the property is host to mainly felsic volcanic rocks.
Cadillac Project
The Cadillac Project was acquired in August 2003. The original 6 claims covering 275 hectares have been subsequently expanded by further property acquisitions. Of particular interest is the project's close proximity to Agnico-Eagle Mines Lapa property. The Cadillac project shares a common boundary with the eastern edge of Agnico's mineral claims.
The Lapa Project has been the site of a significant gold discovery. Agnico-Eagle’s most recent announcement put the gold resources on the property at approximately 1.2 million ounces (1.7 million ounces uncut). Furthermore, Agnico-Eagle has reported a total of 7 active drills at the Lapa property and expects to release a pre-feasibility study by the end of the year. (Agnico-Eagle, Press Release, October 29th).
Cadillac AWG Claims
The Cadillac AWG claims represent a recent undertaking of Northern Star. The claims were acquired in early 2004 to provide additional exploration exposure to the west of the Lapa project closer to Agnico's LaRonde mine. Active exploration is underway on the O'Brien property adjacent and to the north of these new claims.