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Newfoundland,
Canada |
| NEWFOUNDLAND-WORLD
CLASS BASE METAL POTENTIAL Why is Celtic Minerals exploring in Newfoundland? |
| Reason 1 | Main Menu | |
Newfoundland has demonstrated “World class base metal potential” 1) The Voisey’s Bay mine is located in northern Labrador and is owned and operated by Inco. It is one of a select group of deposits that can truly be classified as world class. Production began at the Ni-Cu-Co deposit known as The Ovoid in November 2005 and mining is projected to continue for at least 20 years. The Ovoid contains ore reserves of 31.7 million tonnes with an average grade of 2.83% Nickel, 1.68% Copper and 0.12% Cobalt. The Voisey’s Bay area contains several deposits besides the Ovoid and mining may be expanded beyond The Ovoid in future years. Districts worldwide which contain large Ni-Cu-Co deposits commonly host a cluster of such deposits. Regional exploration beyond the known Voisey’s Bay deposits is very limited and the residual prospectivity for new discoveries is therefore very high. 2) The Buchans Mine, located in central Newfoundland, was owned and operated by Asarco Ltd., between 1929 and 1984 the mine produced 16.2 million tonnes of ore with an average mill head grade of 14,51% zinc, 7.56% lead, 1.33% copper, 126 g/t silver, and 1.37 g/t gold, making it one of the highest grade and most profitable base metal deposit in the world. In today’s dollars, that would equate to a gross metal value of over $4.0 billion. |
Sutherland Pond | |
| Great Burnt Lake | ||
| Buchans Junction | ||
| Buchans Property | ||
| Hungry Hill | ||
| Victoria River | ||
| Rambler | ||
| Reason 2 | |
The Newfoundland base metal belt is under-explored. a) Lack of competitive exploration-New Brunswick hosts similar base metal geology as Newfoundland , but has historically had much more competitive exploration than Newfoundland. A large package of land in Newfoundland was held by one company from 1929 to 1984, effectively stymieing competitive exploration. Only in recent years has this long held land been relinquished and come open for staking. Your company is one of the leaders of the new exploration companies and was successful establishing a large land position at low cost. A competitive exploration environment results in more discoveries. b) Lack of funds for exploration. Historically, Newfoundland has not has periods of sustained exploration capital compared to other proven base metal camps. The table below shows base metal expenditures by province for the period 1975 to 1995. Newfoundland ranks to the bottom of the list, despite the high potential for world class discoveries. A large influx of funds for the period 1995, was a result of the Voiseys Bay nickel-copper-cobalt discovery in Labrador. The bulk of these funds were expended in Labrador. It is interesting to note that in terms of gross metal value, on a dollar per tonne basis, the Buchans deposit and the Voiseys Bay deposits are comparable. Therefore, the target type is the same, with the important exception being that exploration costs in Newfoundland are approximately 1/3 the costs of Labrador. |
| Reason 3 |
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Favorable
Regulatory and Investment Environment a) The Newfoundland government strongly encourages exploration activities and mines development, because there is great need to create jobs. A favourable tax structure is in place to encourage this activity. b) There is a highly skilled work force; competitive Hydro rates; an abundance of crown land, and no water taxes; there is good access and infrastructure, including a network of well-maintained logging roads. c) Exploration and mining activities can continue year round, despite occasionally adverse weather conditions. d) Companies operate within a politically stable environment and in a Jurisdiction governed by British common law. |
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