There have been no copper mines in operation in Quebec for several decades, but the situation could change. At least that is the ambition of Kintavar Exploration. The company has just started drilling at its Wabash project, near the village of Parent, merged with La Tuque, in Mauricie, to assess its grade.
“We found surface mineralization, up to 6% copper per tonne of ore, but normally, we are more around 1% in this project, so we now have to drill to assess the average copper grade”, says Kiril Mugerman, Chairman and CEO of Kintavar Exploration.
He specifies that the average grade of copper mines in the world is currently 0.6%.
Kintavar Exploration also drilled at the Mitchi site, 65 km away, where the grade is 0.5%. If Wabash turns out to be interesting in terms of content, this entire sector could be exploited.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY KINTAVAR EXPLORATION
Mineralization was found at the surface while digging trenches, in the Wabash project, of Kintavar Exploration, in the Mauricie region. Drilling is now starting under these trenches to determine the copper content.
The world demand for copper is very strong today, since it is used in the manufacture of electrical circuits. “We anticipate a great lack of copper in the world, particularly because of the needs created by the efforts to electrify transport,” explains Mr. Mugerman.
In addition to copper, silver was found on the surface at Wabash, in a grade of 30 to 60 g per tonne of ore.
There is also the presence of gold, zinc, lead: it is really a polymetallic project. For the moment, we are betting on copper and silver, but more studies will have to be carried out to see if it would be interesting to extract other metals.
Kiril Mugerman, CEO of Kintavar Exploration
Close to services
Generally, in Quebec, mining projects are carried out in sectors far from all services. This is not the case with this site, which would decrease operating costs.
“There is a railway and the Hydro-Quebec line stops 12 km from the project, so it is certain that if a large international company wants to come and operate the site, it would build an electricity line to join the network. ‘Hydro-Québec rather than fueling the mine with diesel. It would therefore be a greener project. ”
Social acceptability
Since the creation of Kintavar Exploration in 2017, working with local populations has been a priority. “The company was also launched in partnership with the owners of a business in the Mont-Laurier area,” said Mr. Mugerman. It is not a region that is known for mining development, but for the forestry industry. For us, it was therefore very important, since our arrival in the sector, to work with the locals. ”
Kintavar Exploration has also acquired the Fer à Cheval outfitter, north of Mont-Laurier. “She runs 12 months out of 12 and we hire local people,” says Mugerman. We also use this space as an operations center for exploration, we keep equipment there and we house Hydro-Quebec workers. ”
For us, it is a way of bringing the mining industry into the sector by working with communities, especially indigenous people.
Kiril Mugerman, CEO of Kintavar Exploration
This attention to social acceptability is likely to help convince a large company to come and exploit this sector. “It’s something big for big business now,” says Mugerman. It’s not like it was 20 or 30 years ago, when the miners came in and pulled everything out. ”
Wabash drilling results are expected in early 2022.