Landore Resources
www.landore.com/index.htm
www.landore.com/index.htm
Landore Resources Limited is an AIM listed holding company for its 100% owned reporting subsidiary Landore Resources Canada Inc. Landore Canada is engaged in mineral exploration and development, with the present focus of its operations being mineral exploration in Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick, Canada. Landore Canada’s principal properties are the “Junior Lake Property” and the “Miminiska Lake Property”, both located in the Thunder Bay Mining District, Ontario, Canada. Landore Canada is also the owner of other properties in Canada and Nevada in the US containing gold and base metal drill intersections. The Group’s objective is to become a successful mineral explorer and create capital growth for Shareholders through the discovery of economic mineral deposits.
Landore Resources Touts Lamaune Lake Iron Project, Pushes Ahead With Junior Lake
Today Canada focused explorer Landore Resources has revealed a new string to its bow – the results of exploration over a magnetite deposit at the company’s Lamaune Lake project in Ontario have been encouraging enough for it to plan a stepped up programme, including substantial drilling, in 2009. Magnetic anomalies indicate a strike length of over 3.8km with banded magnetite iron formation outcropping at surface and intersected over sizable widths by drilling and trenching carried out this year. Crucially, the deposit is located 11km from the Canadian National Railway, which provides access to the port at Thunder Bay on Lake Superior. Thunder Bay was used as an iron ore port up until 25 years ago when the mines around Atikokan ceased production.
Earlier this month, Landore announced the acquisition of an additional 20 per cent stake in Lamaune Lake, taking the company’s interest to 100 per cent. Aside from the magnetite deposit, the focus at Lamaune Lake is on the Carrot Top zone, which Landore believes, on the basis of exploration drilling carried out in 2003, 2005 and earlier this year, has the potential to become a significant nickel-copper-PGM resource. Accordingly, a sizable drilling programme on the Carrot Top zone is slated for 2009. In addition, follow up exploration drilling is planned for the Grassy Pond zone.
Adjacent to Lamaune Lake is Landore’s most advanced project, Junior Lake, at which there are two main areas of focus - the VW deposit and the B4-7 deposit. The VW deposit has a 43-101 compliant resource containing an estimated 19,443t nickel at a 0.2 per cent nickel cut off grade. The deposit is also estimated to contain 2,661t copper, 765t cobalt, 4,498oz platinum, 5,729oz palladium and 1,755oz gold. Over 90 per cent of the VW resource is in the indicated category, with average grades for the indicated portion of 0.393 per cent nickel, copper at 0.054 per cent, cobalt at 155ppm, platinum at 28ppb, palladium at 36ppb and gold at 11ppb. Landore considers the deposit to be open along strike and at depth.
Some 3km away from the VW deposit is the B4-7 deposit, which has a JORC compliant inferred resource containing, at an 0.2 per cent nickel equivalent cut off grade, an estimated 19,000t nickel, 11,700t copper, 1,800t cobalt, 15,700oz platinum, 59,200oz palladium and 4,000oz gold, with grades of 0.32 per cent nickel, 0.2 per cent copper, 0.03 per cent cobalt, 0.08ppm platinum, 0.31ppm palladium and 0.02ppm gold. As at VW, B4-7 is considered open along strike and at depth.
The price of nickel has now come down from a peak of almost US$55,000/t in 2007 to less than US$9,000/t. Throw rising operating costs into the mix and numerous mines are now uneconomic. This might be seen as a bit inconvenient for Landore Resources, the proud owner of a basket of nickel projects. Ontario has plenty of fine nickel country, but market sentiment is shaky as regards nickel projects in view of the metal’s falling price. Hence, Landore’s share price ended last week at 6.25p, down from a peak of over 20p in February.
But Landore continues to move its nickel projects forward. The company’s Chairman Bill Humphries sees today’s nickel price as unsustainable, and expects a bounce to occur in due course. He reckons a nickel price of around US$7/lb should be alright for Landore, and a recovery to that level from last week’s closing price of around US$4/lb is certainly not inconceivable.
But enough setting of the scene – what comes next for the Junior Lake project? When the results of the current drilling programme at the VW deposit are in, an updated 43-101 resource estimate will form part of a scoping study. Furthermore, a programme of exploration drilling is to test the 3km distance between the VW and B4-7 deposits.
There is clearly more to Junior Lake than nickel, although all the metals found in the VW and B4-7 deposits have been under pressure lately. With that said, Landore is actually a long way from actually having to worry about project economics. It isn’t a producer, and has a good few years of work ahead of it before production could be achieved at Junior Lake. Metal prices may look very different in a few years. The immediate enemy for Landore is market sentiment, because it affects the ability of every company to raise money.
But Landore doesn’t seem to have too much difficulty procuring funds to sustain its activities, having raised £617,500 at 9.5p in September and £2 million at 15p in April. The track record of its key management, which steered Brancote Holdings before Meridian Gold acquired it in order to secure the Esquel gold deposit in Argentina, must help in this regard. Humphries reports that Landore has some very supportive shareholders, and doesn’t seem too worried about the company’s ability to raise the money to do what it wants to do. And certainly, Landore has plenty of news in the pipeline that should serve to keep those investors interested.
As well as Junior Lake and Lamaune Lake, Landore is moving forward with the Lessard project in Quebec. A historic resource dating from a 1975 feasibility study estimates a deposit of 1,463,835t grading 1.73 per cent copper, 2.96 per cent zinc, 1.1oz/t silver and 0.019oz/t gold. The company completed a drill programme earlier this year to pave the way for a new resource estimate, which is expected towards the end of the year. The deposit was a bit too small to be developed in 1975, says Humphries, but Landore is hoping that won’t be the case this time around.
Earlier this month, Landore announced the acquisition of an additional 20 per cent stake in Lamaune Lake, taking the company’s interest to 100 per cent. Aside from the magnetite deposit, the focus at Lamaune Lake is on the Carrot Top zone, which Landore believes, on the basis of exploration drilling carried out in 2003, 2005 and earlier this year, has the potential to become a significant nickel-copper-PGM resource. Accordingly, a sizable drilling programme on the Carrot Top zone is slated for 2009. In addition, follow up exploration drilling is planned for the Grassy Pond zone.
Adjacent to Lamaune Lake is Landore’s most advanced project, Junior Lake, at which there are two main areas of focus - the VW deposit and the B4-7 deposit. The VW deposit has a 43-101 compliant resource containing an estimated 19,443t nickel at a 0.2 per cent nickel cut off grade. The deposit is also estimated to contain 2,661t copper, 765t cobalt, 4,498oz platinum, 5,729oz palladium and 1,755oz gold. Over 90 per cent of the VW resource is in the indicated category, with average grades for the indicated portion of 0.393 per cent nickel, copper at 0.054 per cent, cobalt at 155ppm, platinum at 28ppb, palladium at 36ppb and gold at 11ppb. Landore considers the deposit to be open along strike and at depth.
Some 3km away from the VW deposit is the B4-7 deposit, which has a JORC compliant inferred resource containing, at an 0.2 per cent nickel equivalent cut off grade, an estimated 19,000t nickel, 11,700t copper, 1,800t cobalt, 15,700oz platinum, 59,200oz palladium and 4,000oz gold, with grades of 0.32 per cent nickel, 0.2 per cent copper, 0.03 per cent cobalt, 0.08ppm platinum, 0.31ppm palladium and 0.02ppm gold. As at VW, B4-7 is considered open along strike and at depth.
The price of nickel has now come down from a peak of almost US$55,000/t in 2007 to less than US$9,000/t. Throw rising operating costs into the mix and numerous mines are now uneconomic. This might be seen as a bit inconvenient for Landore Resources, the proud owner of a basket of nickel projects. Ontario has plenty of fine nickel country, but market sentiment is shaky as regards nickel projects in view of the metal’s falling price. Hence, Landore’s share price ended last week at 6.25p, down from a peak of over 20p in February.
But Landore continues to move its nickel projects forward. The company’s Chairman Bill Humphries sees today’s nickel price as unsustainable, and expects a bounce to occur in due course. He reckons a nickel price of around US$7/lb should be alright for Landore, and a recovery to that level from last week’s closing price of around US$4/lb is certainly not inconceivable.
But enough setting of the scene – what comes next for the Junior Lake project? When the results of the current drilling programme at the VW deposit are in, an updated 43-101 resource estimate will form part of a scoping study. Furthermore, a programme of exploration drilling is to test the 3km distance between the VW and B4-7 deposits.
There is clearly more to Junior Lake than nickel, although all the metals found in the VW and B4-7 deposits have been under pressure lately. With that said, Landore is actually a long way from actually having to worry about project economics. It isn’t a producer, and has a good few years of work ahead of it before production could be achieved at Junior Lake. Metal prices may look very different in a few years. The immediate enemy for Landore is market sentiment, because it affects the ability of every company to raise money.
But Landore doesn’t seem to have too much difficulty procuring funds to sustain its activities, having raised £617,500 at 9.5p in September and £2 million at 15p in April. The track record of its key management, which steered Brancote Holdings before Meridian Gold acquired it in order to secure the Esquel gold deposit in Argentina, must help in this regard. Humphries reports that Landore has some very supportive shareholders, and doesn’t seem too worried about the company’s ability to raise the money to do what it wants to do. And certainly, Landore has plenty of news in the pipeline that should serve to keep those investors interested.
As well as Junior Lake and Lamaune Lake, Landore is moving forward with the Lessard project in Quebec. A historic resource dating from a 1975 feasibility study estimates a deposit of 1,463,835t grading 1.73 per cent copper, 2.96 per cent zinc, 1.1oz/t silver and 0.019oz/t gold. The company completed a drill programme earlier this year to pave the way for a new resource estimate, which is expected towards the end of the year. The deposit was a bit too small to be developed in 1975, says Humphries, but Landore is hoping that won’t be the case this time around.
