By Stan Stricker
Geology, infrastructure and sound government make New Brunswick an overlooked nugget in the search for gold.I think the quest for gold is becoming increasingly attractive in the Canadian province of New Brunswick. Indeed, I think it’s one of the best places for junior companies to explore, and there is a strong case for making it an exploration priority. In a nutshell, here’s why.
Geology: Start with the big picture: Canada is huge. The country is 40 per cent covered by the metals-rich Canadian Shield, and it has tremendous mineral riches in the Cordillera (the mountain ranges in the West.) This much is widely known.
Not so widely appreciated is that Appalachian Canada has also been home to some of the world’s richest metals discoveries. The greatest of those have been in New Brunswick, which boasts highly prospective geology and world-class deposits. For example, the world’s largest accumulations of volcanic base metal deposits are New Brunswick’s Bathurst Mining Camp, the Abitibi Greenstone Belt in Québec and Ontario, and the Iberian Pyrite Belt in Spain and Portugal.
However, most of New Brunswick’s metallic mineral production has come from lead, zinc and silver mining. While there has been some gold production in recent years, the provincial history of gold exploration and production runs neither long nor deep. I think the development of world-class base metals mines has distracted mining companies from the hunt for gold. This is changing. For example, in recent years the company I operate, Stratabound Minerals Corp., has invested in gold prospects in the province, and we have been rewarded with a number of high-potential discoveries.
Infrastructure: There is also the matter of manpower and infrastructure. Mineral production is an important part of the provincial economy, which sports mills and smelting facilities to process base metals. Base and precious metals production in the province amounted to $1.5 billion in 2006; the industry employs more than 2000 men and women. This provides a skilled work force for prospecting, drilling and mining operations.
The Bathurst Mining Camp has access to tidewater at the ice-free, deepwater port of Bathurst. This means metal concentrates can be shipped inexpensively to smelters around the world, wherever the best terms can be negotiated. Stratabound benefited from this when we operated our CNE lead-zinc-silver mine in the early 1990s.
The province also has rail transport and good roadways. Of particular importance to exploration companies like Stratabound, the well-developed forestry industry means an extensive network of logging roads, which provide ready access to most mineral properties. As a result of all these factors, costs are generally lower than in other parts of Canada.
Policy: New Brunswick typifies the political stability, economic sophistication and resource extraction expertise of Canada. Of equal importance, the provincial government is a great partner for the mining industry. It rewards successful prospectors, offers cash incentives to encourage exploration, and has an attractive, stable tax regime for producers.
For example, my company recently received a resource development grant for one of our projects in the Bathurst Camp. As a matter of fact, we are the first and only company so far to receive funding through this newly announced program. As Natural Resources Minister Donald Arseneault explained when he awarded this grant, his government is keen to attract new investment, but “we also want to ensure that existing companies in the province” – like Stratabound – “are taking full advantage of deposits already identified.” This program requires that companies at least match the amount of the grant in their development work. To my mind, that is a sensible approach to government policy.
Exploration for Gold: New Brunswick’s advantages of unsurpassed infrastructure and sound policy would be irrelevant, of course, if the province did not have geological potential for precious metals. The potential clearly exists, yet the province is notably under-explored for gold.
This is changing, and Stratabound is a leader in this development. We have commissioned a resource estimate and technical report for our Elmtree gold property, which has been our major drilling focus for the last two years. We recently staked a large number of claims as a result of our Big Presque Isle gold discovery – in an area that had never before been explored for gold. The discovery was made in rocks exposed during highway construction through the potato fields of western New Brunswick – near the village of Florenceville, which calls itself the “French Fry Capital of the World”.
As the reality of unexplored yet prospective land becomes better appreciated, it will encourage more grassroots exploration for precious metals. Stratabound is a Calgary-based company, and we have high-potential properties in Ontario and Québec as well. However, our hearts will probably always be in New Brunswick.