Orford Mining (TSX-V: ORM) - Explorer with Copper, Gold, Nickel & PGEs

Orford Mining is a gold explorer focused on highly prospective and under-explored areas of Northern Quebec. Orford Mining’s principal assets are located in two areas, the Cape Smith Belt in the Nunavik region and the Joutel region of the Abitibi district. The Qiqavik and West Raglan projects comprise a land package totaling over 105,000 hectares in the Cape Smith Belt of Northern Quebec. The Qiqavik Project hosts several new high-grade gold discoveries along a mineralized trend in excess of 40km. The West Raglan project hosts a number of high-grade Raglan-style nickel-copper-platinum group metals discoveries along a 50km mineralized trend. Orford has acquired four property positions (Joutel - Eagle, McClure East, Joutel - South, and Joutel - Omega) totaling 26,815 hectares in the Joutel region of the Abitibi District of Northern Quebec, which hosts historical deposits such as the Eagle/Telbel, Joutel Copper, Poirier Copper, and Vezza deposits. Orford continually seeks new gold exploration opportunities in North America.

Matt Gordon caught up with David Christie, President, CEO, and Director, Orford Mining. Mr. Christie previously served as a Vice President with Goodman & Company Investment and Dundee Resources Inc. He is a former President, CEO, and Director of Eagle Hill Exploration, and a Mining Equity Research Analyst at TD and Scotia Capital. He also served as the Director of Osisko Mining Inc., eCobalt Solutions Inc., and Condor Precious Metals. David is a Professional Geologist in Ontario with more than 30 years of experience in the resources sector.

Company Overview

Orford Mining is a mineral explorer focused on a highly prospective and under-explored area of Northern Quebec and the Carolina Gold Belt in the United States. The company was founded in 2010 and is headquartered in Canada. It is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX-V: ORM). Condor Precious Metals Inc. is a company subsidiary.

Orford Mining is a gold-focused exploration company. It also has strong nickel optionality with its nickel project with Wyloo Metals. As part of the joint venture, Wyloo has an exclusive and irrevocable right and option to acquire up to 80% of the project for $25M over a 7-year period. Orford Mining has 2 key gold projects, namely the Qiqavik Gold project that sits right next to the West Raglan Nickel project and the Joutel project in the Abitibi basin.

Cash Position

During early summer 2022, Orford Mining raised capital at much higher share prices. The raise has enabled the company to be well-financed for the remainder of the year. 25% of the company is held by Alamos Gold, a highly-supportive shareholder. The company also has a nickel project with Wyloo Metals. The latter recently spent about $5M on the asset. Wyloo Metals also pays 10% to the company in management fees. All these factors help the company’s balance sheet, enabling it to move forward with both operations and administration.

The West Raglan project is spread across a 713-square-kilometre area. The asset sits about 90km west of the Raglan nickel mine that is operated by Glencore. It is one of the best world-class nickel deposits globally.  Since platinum, palladium, and cobalt are used to pay for the operations, nickel and copper are essentially produced for free. It is a very rich mine that features very high grades. Orford Mining’s project features the same time of mineralization.

In 2021, the company signed an agreement with Wyloo Metals to earn-in up to 80% on the project by completing a Feasibility Study and spending $25M. Following this, Orford needs to continue participating in order to retain its 20% stake. Last year, Wyloo Metals carried out a geophysical program, and this year, it worked on prospecting. A 2,600m drill program was conducted where nine holes were drilled across different targets. Several drill holes hit nickel sulphides, however, the assay results are currently pending. Orford Mining anticipates that there will be a drill program next year as well. The company is optimistic that Wyloo Mining will make a decision to carry on with the project.

The Qiqavik Gold Project

The Qiqavik project is a large property spread across a 395 square kilometre area. During the summer of 2022, the company drilled 2,700m across 14 holes. The majority of these holes were concentrated in an area where the Annick boulder train’s source is expected to be present. Notably, the company had a 3.7km long boulder train with grades up to 648g/t.

During the drill operations, the company discovered an area of strong quartz, carbonate alteration, and veining along with lots of sericite alterations. According to the company, these materials are ingredients for a gold mine. So far, the company has received about 30% of the overall assay results and it is awaiting the pending results to come in. The company found the same kind of quartz, alteration, and iron carbonate alternation as the boulders, leading to the conclusion that it is in the right system.

Through surface mapping, Orford Mining has identified quartz-carbonate in drill holes and at the surface over a 2km x 1km area. Notably, the Qiqavik project had seen zero past work done before 2016. This is a brand new Gold district with no exploration history and the company is the first to explore the area for gold. Falconbridge had drilled two holes but abandoned them due to a lack of nickel presence. Orford Mining has spent about 30 weeks on the ground to date and it hasn’t seen a lot of ongoing exploration by other companies in the region.

The Joutel Asset

The Joutel Eagle along with other Joutel projects is based in the middle of the Abitibi basin. Orford Mining’s operations are located right next to a highway, neighbouring Eagle Telbel, Agnico Eagle’s original gold mine. The land package is located near the Cadillac South Brake that goes through Hecla mining to the Casa Berardi mine and the Estrades mine along with other notable deposits. The asset also sits right next to Maple Gold, a joint venture where Agnico Eagle spent $18M to earn up to 51% stake.

The Joutel region is spread across a 260 square kilometre land area in a really good jurisdiction. During the past winter season, the company carried out a small drill program on the Joutel Eagle property. The program confirmed thick mineralization close to the surface with grades up to 46m of 0.97g or 28m of 1.28g. The company hit the mine horizon that was previously identified at the old Eagle Telbel mine. This is one of the major reasons for the high material grades. In the old days, only the shiny bits with sulphide were sampled. Since the company sampled the entire hole, it saw significantly more mineralization.

Targets 2022 and Beyond

Orford Mining is well-financed and has multiple assets in its portfolio. The company is hedging its expenses through its nickel project to attain the benefits. It has three huge properties with lots of bets on each asset.

The company has received a large number of results from its summer programs. The assay results are currently awaited for the West Raglan and Quqavik assets.

Once the assay results from both projects are in over the next two months, the company is looking to publish significantly more news flow.

It has an upcoming winter program in Joutel, which is the cheapest project out of all 3 projects. This is because the asset is located near a well-built infrastructure. Since the market is in an unfavourable position, it’s the ideal time to plan the next exploration. Notably, the Joutel area hasn’t seen exploration since the 80s. The company conducted a drill program at the asset last year. It has plans to conduct a geophysical program in the next couple of weeks.

During the winter, the company has plans to drill between 2,000m-4,000m at the Joutel Eagle project. The company is looking to either intersect or identify and expand the low-grade mineralization that was found close to the surface. If the company can turn the deposit into a resource or confirm if a resource is possible, it will lead to value accretion. It is also looking to drill a couple of the old showings on the property that hasn’t been drilled since the 60s. The company anticipates that the program will contribute towards generating value.

Orford Mining is currently in the grassroots stage, seeking a big discovery that will help build the company. In its current state, the company benefits from having multiple assets in its portfolio as this enables it to hedge bets to generate value.

The limited number of drill holes at the Qiqavik project have returned good results. Even though the assay results are still pending, the company is already cognizant of the geological or technical success of the summer drill operations. Based on the limited assays, the company has hit grades of 6g and 8g. It is currently seeking higher material grades. The Qiqavik asset is still in the grassroots exploration stage. It’s early days on the Quqavik project since the company has spent just over 30 weeks on the ground. The asset is spread across a 395 square kilometre area and has never been explored before.

At the West Raglan project, the company is working with Wyloo metals. There have been notable discoveries at the project and the company is looking to make new discoveries to add to the inventory of nickel mineralization on the property.

The Joutel asset probably has the easiest potential to move to a value stage where it can be turned into a resource. This is largely due to the presence of well-built infrastructure in the region. As exploration costs are much cheaper, the company can work at the Joutel asset all year round. The asset also has a discovery from the 1980s that wasn’t fully drilled back in the day. The company is currently drilling in this region. In 2021, the company sampled the full core and identified thick mineralization intersections along with lower-grade mineralization close to the surface. The company is looking to determine whether the mineralization features continuity or not. Following this, the company will determine if the mineralization can be turned into a resource. The Joutel asset has the potential to add value quicker than the other two projects.

By springtime, the company is looking to continue moving forward with the Qiqavik asset. If the winter exploration at Joutel is successful, the company plans to reallocate capital to continue exploration.

To find out more, go to the Orford Mining website