Mineral rights bought
Denendeh Investments eyes prospective silver mine
near Great Bear Lake
Daron Letts
Northern News Services
Published Friday, October 18, 2013
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
The North's first aboriginal-owned mine may be just a few years away, following the purchase of four exploration properties near Great Bear Lake earlier this fall.
Denendeh Exploration and Mining Company (DEMCo), a wholly-aboriginal-owned subsidiary of Denendeh Investments Inc., bought nearly 24,000 hectares from Fortune Minerals Inc., North Continental Energy Ltd., United Coal and Vancouver-based prospector Michael Magrum.
The properties, located in a former silver-mining district at Camsell River, cost the company about $60,000, according to CEO Darrell Beaulieu.
"The future of the North is going to be in resource development," he said. "The door has already been there, so we just want to open it a little wider. It's being involved at a different level that First Nations haven't been involved at before."
Silver mining was conducted in the area until 1985, including the past-producing Silver Bear, Norex and Smallwood mines. Terra Mines' Silver Bear mine produced approximately 16 million ounces of silver during the life of the operation, Beaulieu said.
"The geology is also suitable for an iron-oxide-copper-gold (IOCD) type deposit. It's very similar to what Fortune's Nico to the south has," he added. "It's a multi-mineral property that has potential for gold, silver, bismuth, zinc, etc."
The 78-hectare Fortune site accounted for about a third of DEMCo's purchase cost. Fortune also retained a one per cent net smelter royalty.
"Although our lease at Camsell River is well-positioned to nearby mines, the property is too small to be explored independently and needs to be developed as part of regional exploration program," stated Robin Goad, Fortune president and CEO, in a news release earlier this month.
Denedeh Investments Inc. launched DEMCo in June, with a goal of exploring and developing potential resource targets on and off settled land claim areas. Its mandate includes researching potential areas of mineralization, acquisition of mineral properties, grassroots exploration, exploration drilling, resource definition, feasibility studies, mining and associated exploration remediation and reclamation projects.
"Our next step is to look at all the data from those properties and compile them and analyze what's there and hopefully be able to have a 3-D model developed," Beaulieu said, adding that the process will likely take a year or two.
"Basically, we're looking for gaps in the data and if there are gaps there will probably be further exploration work to see what's there."
The company's vision is to explore, find, own and operate mines, bring jobs to Dene communities and provide contracts for more than 60 aboriginal-owned companies in the territory, he added.
"Mining basically drives the economy of the NWT," Beaulieu said. "There are 60-plus aboriginal companies that provide services to the mining industry. Some of the mines are going to be closing in the next six to 15 years, so those companies that have been providing those services are probably going to need other projects to move on to."
