Resource World Magazine

58 www.resourceworld.com A U G U S T / S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 7 Olga Prikhodko, Red Pine geologist, logs diamond drill core at Wawa Gold Project located 2 km southeast of Wawa, northern Ontario. Photo courtesy Red Pine Exploration Inc. MINING W awa has a rich mining history that goes back hundreds of years with the mining of cop- per in the area. But it was gold that brought many hopeful prospectors to Ontario in 1879 when it was discovered on the south shore of Wawa Lake. The resulting gold rush lasted for just under a decade and brought about the incorporation of the City of Wawa. Smaller communities that grew up near new gold mines have however, come and gone. The flurry of gold exploration activity in the area led to the discovery of iron and the resulting Helen Mine was the largest Canadian producer of iron ore from 1900 to 1918. In 1920, new gold veins were discovered at Michipicoten on the south- eastern shores of Lake Superior a just a few miles from the initial gold discovery at Wawa Lake. Canada's Abitibi greenstone belt, which begins in Wawa and stretches east for 650 miles to Val d'Or, Quebec hosts several of the world's largest gold and base metal deposits. Today, several gold companies continue to explore and produce in the Wawa Mining District. Argo Gold Inc. [ARQ-CSE] has five 100%-owned properties on highly pro- spective ground in the Wawa area: Rockstar, Abbie Lake, South Wawa, Mishi Lake and Macassa Creek. Argo Gold is working at the properties on re-establish- ing access, grab and channel sampling, geological and structural mapping, geo- chemical surveying, prospecting. Initial samples were sent for assay in mid-May, and results are pending. The company is reviewing historical geological and geophysical data, as well as planning follow-up drilling. Argo Gold describes all properties as "having high-grade underground and low-grade open pit potential – particularly given their proximity to two gold mills." Some properties have undergone explo- ration drilling though some results are unverified. The Rockstar gold project has two sig- nificant gold prospects that merit follow up. At the Abbie Lake gold property gold mineralization was identified by Tundra Gold Mines over strike length of ~ 5 km. The Macassa Creek property did see some exploration drilling in the late 80s. Future plans include identifying drilling targets based on future fieldwork and geological interpretation. The South Wawa property is in the historic mining camp south of Wawa. Historical soil sampling identified gold and pathfinder element anomalies near the Valentti Vein that have not been explored. The property was subject to trenching program but has not been explored since the early 1990s. The Mishi Lake Gold property is a recent acquisition where Argo Gold staked two adjacent claims. The entire land pack- age is adjacent and east of several historical gold prospects. Argonaut Gold Inc. [TSX-AR] is an experienced gold producer with two gold mines currently in production in Mexico. Argonaut has the advanced exploration Magino Project (100% owned), a past pro- ducing, underground gold mine 40 km northeast of Wawa. The project was the subject of a positive 2016 Pre-Feasibility NI 43-101 Technical Report dated February 22, 2016 that out- lined an open-pit mining operation with the potential for deeper, higher-grade gold production with a mine life of 10 years, cash costs of $582/oz gold, an after-tax NPV at $1,200 gold and a 5% discount rate – $415M, an after-tax IRR of 23% and an initial capital cost of $540 million (US$). The company is planning to complete a feasibility study on the project H2 2017. The Magino project has NI 43-101 (December 2016) compliant proven and probable reserves of 3 million gold oz (105 M tonnes at 0.89 g/t) and indicated 4.1 Ontario's Wawa mining district update by Kathrine Moore

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