Mike Athey
L’ÎLE DU GRAND CALUMET Oct. 14, 2020
The Sphinx Resources mining company is prepared to start drilling on Oct. 22 at several dig sites on L’Île du Grand Calumet.
The company will drill at three locations its Calumet-Nord Project currently has approval for.
According to CEO Jeremie Ryan, they don’t know exactly what they are going to find, but from their grab samples they discovered . . .
levels of copper, gold, lead and zinc.
“We haven’t drilled it yet,” said Ryan. “The drilling will tell the story.”
Ryan said that “they’d be laughing” if they could get 3.8 grams of gold within 100 metres of a 300 metre deep hole.
It will take some time to get results but Ryan said they should know more before Christmas.
Serge Newberry, mayor of L’Île du Grand Calumet, is happy with the renewed interest in the ore.
“There’s been a mine before and we know it can bring many jobs,” said Newberry.
Sphinx Resources has 42 claims in the region, but some of that is under farmland and it will take more government approval to expand past the current three sites. There are plans to apply to the Commission de Protection du Territoire Agricole (CPTAQ) to get this permission.
Newberry acknowledged the process but said the company only really contacts them when they need those approvals.
“It would be nicer to be working closer together,” he said.
Sphinx Resources also has a Calumet-Sud Project that focuses on zinc extraction, but Ryan said that they are “still far away” from any announcements.
It took some time to get permission to start drilling, but in 2019 they drilled zinc in the area. The samples at the time weren’t high enough grade, recording at 2.7 per cent. They were hoping for a grade of 3.5 to five per cent. Drilling is planned to begin again in 2021.
“If we get volume with it, we’ll be ok,” said Ryan.
He said they would need a volume that could keep the mine operating for a minimum for 20 years to make it viable.
The company is also working on a Green Palladium Project; during 2015 they drilled and found the palladium they were looking for.
Ryan said the price of the palladium has more than doubled since then going from US$950 per ounce to US$2,150.
“Every hole would be feasible to dig in now,” he continued.
Sphinx Resources is looking for a partner to help them complete the palladium extraction project.
