Big news on the Raglan..Redmond to spend $7-million at NovaWest's Raglan
NovaWest Resources Inc NVE
Shares issued 18,378,450 Feb 26 close $0.37
Tue 27 Feb 2001 News Release
Also Redmond Ventures Corp (RMD)
Mr. Patrick O'Brien reports
NovaWest Resources Inc. and Redmond Ventures Corp., both listed on the
Canadian Venture Exchange, have entered into a joint venture whereby
Redmond may earn up to a 50-per-cent interest, by way of option, in a
significant portion of NovaWest's Raglan assemblage of mineral permits in
Northern Quebec. Included in the joint venture will be NovaWest's
DeltaEast, DeltaWest, Sub, LacNuvilik, EastBridge, Kozmo and CheckMate
mineral permits, the NovaWest-Redmond project, encompassing approximately
330 square kilometres (81,500 hectares).
These permits encircle Falconbridge Limited's Delta-Oasis property
containing the approximately one-million-ton Delta deposit (D-8 and D-9),
grading 3.08 per cent nickel, 1.26 per cent copper and 2.25 grams/tonne
platinum group minerals (PGMs). Falconbridge has expended approximately
$1-billion to date in the Raglan, resulting in the discovery and
development of the nearby Raglan (Katiniq) mine, 7.5 million tons at 3.1
per cent Ni and 0.89 per cent Cu; the Donaldson deposit, 3.8 million tons
at 4.4 per cent Ni, 1.0 per cent Cu and 6.6 g/t PGE (platinum group
elements); and the Cross Lake deposit, two million tons at 2.06 per cent
Ni, 1.05 per cent Cu and 5.95 g/t PGE. These discoveries are within
Falconbridge's main Raglan property block and trend westward toward the
NovaWest-Redmond project and NovaWest's Raglan assemblage of properties.
The Raglan assemblage is situated in the heart of the Raglan (Cape Smith)
belt, long known for its large nickel-copper-PGM deposits of magmatic
origin, which is highly prospective for PGM-Ni mineralization. Some of
Canada's most significant palladium and platinum values are from the Raglan
area, with NovaWest itself reporting palladium values up to 26.76 g/t and
platinum values up to 9.3 g/t from 1997/1998 samples of hardrock surface
outcrops taken from within the NovaWest-Redmond project area.
Redmond may earn its 50-per-cent interest by expending $7.0-million in
exploration expenditures over three years. Redmond will also pay NovaWest
$60,000 cash and 250,000 shares over the term of the option. Redmond will
be responsible for property taxes, royalty payments and future Raglan
property acquisition costs during the option term. NovaWest will be the
operator of the programs and an administrative committee will be struck
with representatives from each company to oversee budgets and property
management. An area-of-interest provision will prevail over future property
acquisitions that fall within 10 kilometres of any boundary of any permit
or claim that is presently or should become part of this option agreement.
Terms of the option agreement are subject to all regulatory approvals.
The companies are excited about the potential of the Raglan PGM-Ni-Co-Cu
camp and feel that their combined experience and expertise will contribute
to successful exploration and drilling programs during the next three
years. The program for 2001 is already planned and logistics are presently
being finalized. The 2001 program is expected to include field exploration
and a minimum of 10,000 feet of diamond drilling.
NovaWest's Raglan exploration model will be used to guide the partners'
2001 and future years exploration at Raglan. The model and geological
overview identify the Raglan belt as part of the Circum-Superior mobile
belt, which includes the Thompson nickel belt (TNB).
NovaWest has used its knowledge and expertise in the TNB Manitoba, in order
to estimate the economic potential of the Raglan belt. The TNB represents
another, approximately 340-kilometre-long portion of the Circum-Superior
belt, a virtual mirror image of the Raglan (Cape Smith belt). A comparison
of the Raglan with the TNB indicates that, to date, only a fraction of the
Ni-PGM-Cu sulphide deposits and tonnage known to exist in the TNB has been
discovered in the Raglan belt. The TNB contains in the order of 800 million
tons of Ni-PGM-Cu sulphide mineralization in 37 mines (not all producers)
with exploration down in excess of 5,000 feet. In comparison, the Raglan
belt is early into its economic evaluation, with exploration to date being
shallow, above 1,000 feet deep. By in-house estimate, it is suggested that
the Raglan belt presently contains 40 to 100 million tons of Ni-PGM-Cu-Co
mineralization in approximately seven deposits with the potential to host
much more. |
