Virginia Gold Mines Inc -
Yorkton Securities says buy
Virginia Gold Mines Inc VIA
Shares issued 22,803,147
1999-11-01 close $0.6
Monday Nov 1 1999
Mr. Doug Leishman and Mr. Art Ettlinger say why Virginia Gold is one of the most active explorers in the Province of Quebec and is managed by Mr. Andre Gaumond and Mr. Paul Archer, both highly regarded explorationists. The company has a wide variety of mineral properties in the province at various stages of exploration. Whereas gold was the dominant commodity under exploration a few years ago, the company has since diversified into base metals, nickel and platinum-palladium group metals (PGMs). Currently, the company has over $10-million in cash (greater than 40 cents per share) and a number of joint venture partners to assist it in its exploration efforts. On Sept. 16, 1999, the company announced that it would initiate four separate drill programs on a number of properties over the next few months. The total cost of this program is estimated to be greater than $1-million with more than half of the costs being funded by joint venture partners. The company has stated that at least 5,000 to 7,000 metres of drilling will be completed on these projects over the next several months. The projects to be drilled include the Chute-des-Passes (nickel-copper-cobalt), Payne Bay (nickel-copper-cobalt), La Grande Sud (gold-zinc) and the Gayot (nickel-copper-PGMs). On the Chute-des-Passes project, a troctolite with nickel-copper sulphide mineralization in a setting said to be similar to Voisey's Bay has been identified. Over the past 18 months, airborne and ground geophysical surveys (Max Min) have identified a number of separate targets, some of them with associated surface mineralization. A number of these targets have been drilled by the company, resulting in the discovery of several small, uneconomic lenses of sulphides. Trenching and drilling this fall will be focused on a number of new targets. Soquern Inc., which may earn a 50-per-cent interest in this property by completing $500,000 in expenditures over a three-year period, will execute the next phase of exploration. The Payne Bay project, located in the Ungava region of Quebec, hosts a number of geological and geophysical targets similar with those on the nearby Raglan nickel-copper-cobalt mine. The property is located on the west side of Ungava Bay, approximately 275 kilometres southeast of Raglan. The exploration program here is a joint venture with Osisko Exploration Ltd., managed by the company. The company may earn a 50-per-cent interest in this project by spending $600,000 over the next three years. During the past field season, a large number of surface showings associated with mafic flows have been identified. Individual samples from the different showings range from 1.5 per cent nickel to 6.5 per cent nickel. The current drilling program is designed to test a number of the higher-priority drill targets. In June of this year, Cambior Inc. signed an agreement with the company which gave Cambior the right to earn a 50-per-cent interest in the La Grande Sud project by the expenditure of $7-million over the next six years. In addition, this agreement also called for Cambior to subscribe for shares of the company at prices ranging between $1.00 to $2.50 per share over the same time period. The main showing on the Grande Sud project is Zone 32 where previous drilling by the company has outlined a resource of 350,000 ounces of gold. A number of other similar zones of mineralization remain to be drill tested. More recent work on this property has identified surface mineralization (up to .53 per cent zinc over 23 metres) hosted within a thick sequence of felsic volcanics with associated gold values. This target will be followed up for volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) potential. In addition, glacial train anomaly of overburden till samples -- returning up to 1,678 grains of gold -- will also be followed up. Recently, Cambior Inc. has experienced some financial problems which should concern any property partners, particularly when Cambior is responsible for funding. However, until it hears otherwise, the company, as well as ourselves, must assume the program will go forward. Finally, on the Gayot project (which is described as a recently discovered belt of ultramafic rocks with many similarities shared with the nickeliferous belts of Raglan (Quebec) and Kambalda in Australia) a drill program has commenced. On this project, the company has identified a number of showings of disseminated sulphides (up to 25 per cent) within komatiitic lava horizons along a strike length of at least 15 kilometres. Initial assays reported have ranged up to 2.7 per cent nickel, .4 per cent copper and .1 per cent cobalt. PGM values have also been identified. This property is 100 per cent owned by the company and is described as being a "new discovery" by its very excited president, Mr. Andre Gaumond. We expect to hear more of this project in the near future. With a widely diversified portfolio and a number of active projects, we rate Virginia Gold as a buy for the risk-oriented speculator. Additional information about the company may be obtained at virginia.gc.ca. (c) Copyright 2000 Canjex Publishi |
