Issue link: http://resourceworld.uberflip.com/i/912601
68 www.resourceworld.com D E C E M B E R / J A N U A R Y 2 0 1 8 MINING Osprey fishing for gold in Nova Scotia by Jennifer S. Getsinger, PhD, PGeo O spreys, or fish hawks, the provincial bird of Nova Scotia, nest on power poles near the flagship mineral exploration property of Osprey Gold Development Ltd. [OS-TSXV; OSSPF-OTCQB] near the small community of Goldenville. With its first gold rush in 1861, the Goldenville area, near Sherbrooke, has been Nova Scotia's prime gold mining district, with past pro- duction reported as 212,300 troy ounces of gold (1861-1942). And where better to look for gold mines than where they have been found in abundance in the past? Following a name change from Gonzaga Resources Ltd. last February, Osprey Gold has pulled together several projects to revive gold mining in the safe and friendly mining jurisdiction of Nova Scotia: Goldenville, Miller Lake, Gold Lake, Seal Harbour, and Caribou. All are located in Paleozoic Meguma Terrane; metamorphic rocks deformed during the Acadian orogeny and intruded by Devonian granitic plutons. Osprey Gold's team includes Jeffrey Wilson, CEO, Cooper Quinn, President, Perry MacKinnon, PGeo and Vice President of Exploration, Adrian Fleming, Chairman, Greg Beischer, PGeo and Director, and Jasmine Lau, CFO and Corporate Secretary. In a recent interview, Cooper Quinn spoke enthusiasti- cally about the road-accessible five prospects, in particular, the Goldenville Project. The company recalculated (incorporating data from a 2005 NI 43-101 report, and additional drilling) his- toric inferred resources of 244,730 ounces grading 14.26 g/t gold and indicated resources of 37,012 ounces at 10.76 g/t gold (2 g/t cutoff). A news release dated October 18, 2017, stated that Goldenville hosted a "current NI 43-101 inferred resource of 2,800,000 tonnes grading 3.20 g/t gold, for 288,000 ounces of gold (2,800,000 tonnes at 4.96 g/t gold for 447,000 ounces of gold uncapped)." The current resource has two components: a near surface por- tion, and an underground portion. They have different cut off grades and parameters to account for the different potential min- ing methods. In the gold rush days, only high-grade gold was mined, but even then miners were aware of the potential extent of mineral- ization. According to information provided by Quinn, "an 1898 report in the Industrial Advocate stated, "A survey is being made of Mitchell's Lake about 2 miles west of Goldenville by Charles Pye, government surveyor. In this vicinity are some of the largest, low-grade, belts of ore in the district, and as this class of mining will be eventually the mainstay of the gold mining industry in this province, considerable interest is attached to the determina- tion of the several boundary lines." This is a surprisingly prophetic statement, considering that low-grade, high tonnage gold mining techniques were not well developed until the latter part of the 20th century. Osprey Gold's claimed ground at Goldenville surrounds both the old workings in Goldenville and Mitchell Lake. The company maintains an office in Goldenville. During the 2017 exploration season, Osprey Gold completed a 3,044-metre diamond drill program at its Goldenville Project that was designed to test for these thicker gold zones, extend the resource along strike, and evaluate disseminated mineralization. Some drilling was also done at Mitchell Lake in conjunction with this program, and results are to be worked into new resource esti- mates in the future. At its Lower Seal Harbour Project, the company completed a surface exploration program including geologic mapping and sampling, soil geochemistry and reconsideration of compiled historical data in order to define future exploration targets. Osprey Gold's plans for the next few seasons include confirming details of land packages, espe- cially at recently acquired Caribou; receiving and incorporating recent diamond drill results into comprehensive studies of resources; initiating a new phase of exploration work on the surface at Caribou; and planning future exploration and drill- ing work phases at all five projects. At first, the Drilling at Osprey Gold's Goldenville Project located135 km northeast of Halifax, Nova Scotia. Photo courtesy Osprey Gold Development Ltd.