Alto Ventures Adds Further Upside To Its Gold Exploration Portfolio In Ontario
By Daina Lawrence
minesite.com
News of massively increased interest in mining in the Yukon has been splashed all over Canada’s media for the past few weeks, and thoughts of the old Klondike rush continue to come to mind as companies scramble to stake new claims. But Mike Koziol, chief executive of Alto Ventures, says that, for now, his company will maintain its established foothold in the eastern provinces, and not venture too far west. And there is a very simple reason why this Vancouver-based mining corporation is sticking with its Ontario and Quebec properties. “It is their proven potential for gold production,” Mike explains confidently.
Alto already has several projects on the go in Ontario and Quebec, and is working up towards drilling on the Beardmore-Geraldton gold belt properties in Ontario either in the fall or in the very early months of 2010. But last month it acquired an additional gold property next to its Coldstream Gold project in north western Ontario, and Mike’s quite excited about the potential there.
The new 400 hectare property is located in the Shebandowan greenstone belt, approximately 100 kilometres west of Thunder Bay. Mike has had his eye on this property for a couple of years because of its proximity to Coldstream, and because of the wider area’s potential for gold production. So when the property actually became available recently Mike says he jumped at the chance to get involved with it. “It’s relatively unexplored,” he says, and adds that this idea of being in fairly uncharted territory adds to the appeal.
Still, it’s not completely virgin ground. Alto’s exploration of the site is expected to begin in the next two to three weeks, and the company will be following up on past drilling which has already revealed several gold occurrences. Two previous drill holes in particular have delivered some nice looking gold intercepts. One showed 0.74 grammes per tonne gold across 11.3 metres, and one showed mineralization in two zones: 1.27 grammes per tonne gold over five metres, and 1.28 grammes per tonne across 5.2 metres.
These holes are spaced 400 metres apart and mineralization occurs in altered and pyrite-bearing mafic volcanic rocks which contain quartz and carbonate veins. The gold mineralized zones lie along an IP anomaly and no follow-up work is reported along this anomaly. Mike makes it clear that his company is not 100 per cent sure what will happen with this project and that intrinsic value of it is still up in the air, but there is confidence inside Alto that it will be an excellent future investment. At a cost of C$50,000 and 200,000 Alto shares, the asking price on is hardly breaking the bank.
Especially since the upside at the new property also adds to the upside of Coldstream next door. And Coldtream is a lot more advanced. There, the company can already boast a historic resource of 5.1 million tonnes at an average grade of 1.4 grammes per tonne. These numbers were put together by former Noranda back in 1990. But even with those numbers to act as support, the dire state of the global economy recently has hit Alto Ventures hard.
The company’s shares still remain depressed, currently sitting at approximately C$0.030. The way out of the doldrums for this junior mining company is to find partners to work alongside it on many of its projects, including the latest acquisition. “It’s better to have a share of something and get work done than own 100 per cent and not be able to get anything done,” says Mike.
And there are areas of Alto Ventures’ Oxford Lake property in Manitoba that Mike says require more thorough exploration, and which could also eventually yield some really promising data. But lack of financing in the recent economic downturn and the company's focus on its Ontario and Quebec projects have put exploration in that area on hold for now. Alto Ventures is not yet ready to head west, it seems, not even as far as Manitoba, let alone the Yukon. And if the upside in and around Coldstream comes good, it may never have to. |
