Maritime Resources Corp (TSX-V:MAE, OTC:MRTMF) said it is making good progress as it breathes new life into its Hammerdown gold project in the Baie Verte Mining District of Newfoundland and Labrador.
The company’s CEO Garett Macdonald told Proactive that the recent acquisition of the Point Rousse assets from Signal Gold Inc marks a major de-risking step for the company as it develops Hammerdown and other gold projects in the area.
The Point Rousse assets include the Pine Cove processing plant, an in-pit tailings facility, access to a deep water port and over 54 square kilometers of highly prospective land.
At Hammerdown, Macdonald said a 2022 feasibility study for the project revealed a high-grade resource, with proven and probable reserves of approximately 4.5 grams per tonne in an open pit.
“We’re working towards getting into mine up and running to generate cash flow, using that cash flow to then grow the company, into something bigger and better,” he added.
“It’s not a big mine; it’s a small mine but we think it’s going to make a great amount of cash flow which will allow us to then invest and grow in the area.”
With the addition of Point Rousse, Macdonald said the company now owns two mineral processing plants close to the Hammerdown site, in an area with significant mineral exploration potential, he said.
“We’re trying to connect a former high-grade mine that’s now looking like a very high-grade open pit, nearly permitted, connecting to a fully permitted and existing mill about an hour away,” he said.
As well as processing its own metal, Macdonald said the strategic acquisition of Point Rousse means Maritime Resources has the only two gold mills in Newfoundland at the moment, with Marathon Gold Corp (TSX:MOZ) building a third.
The company looking at opening the mills to other producers. To this end, it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with New Found Gold.
“It’s a big site so we have opportunities to look at toll milling other deposits, so we entered an MOU with New Found and we will investigate this idea; they’ve got a great deposit down there in Appleton,” Macdonald said.
“A permitted tailings facility with 13 years of capacity, you know, that’s the really the big advantage there. We’ll see what happens. That’s very exciting for Maritime."
For the remainder of 2023 and into 2024, Macdonald said Maritime plans to ramp up exploration, including several high-grade targets around the Point Rousse mill that the company plans to follow up on.
While the Hammerdown project has been drilled and the company has received proven and probably reserves, he said there is still potential in the area, including a 10-kilometer corridor with a big structural trend that has “not really been drilled off that well,” he said.
“We think there’s more potential in that area so we’re really focused on near-mine targets that can add to the longer mine life that we’d like see,” Macdonald added.
Contact the author at stephen.gunnion@proactiveinvestors.com