Orefinders to generate cash flow while looking to mine’s restart

Visible Gold from grab sample on Northern stockpile

Orefinders Resources Inc. intends to generate cash flow from its Mirado Projecct while working towards its long term objective of putting it into commercial production.

On Aug. 10, its financial position was enhanced when it was able to announce that it has been approved for the Ontario Prospectors Association's (OPA) Junior Exploration Assistance Program (JEAP).

The JEAP program is sponsored by the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation and the OPA.

 The JEAP program has committed to provide Orefinders with a grant to return funds to the company of up to 33.3 per cent of approved eligible exploration expenditures at the Mirado Mine Project to a maximum of $100,000.

 “We are grateful to have the support of the JEAP program. It allows us to stretch our treasury dollars which will be used for the expansion of our resource. Specifically, we'll be drilling the extension of the Mirado open pit on the MZ Zone. We had excellent results on the MZ back in 2014 from Trench 7 with a weighted average grade of 1.80 g/t Au over the entire surface area of the trench which was 130 square metres.

It's clear to us that the geology on the MZ is the same as the Mirado open pit, thus we have a great chance at expanding the resource within a new conceptual pit,” said Stephen Stewart, Orefinders CEO.

He continued by saying “while the attention as of late has been putting our Stockpile project into production, we remain focused on the big picture potential of the Mirado Project via development and exploration on the property's three former producing mines.”

The company’s 100% owned Mirado project is near Kirkland Lake. It intends to mill some of its stockpiles and to this end it filed on July 21 its Closure Plan with Ontario's Ministry of Northern Development and Mines (MNDM).  

This Closure Plan is in relation to Orefinders' Phase One of its Stockpile Processing Project.

Orefinders expects to receive approval from the MNDM within 45 days of its filing date. This approval process is the final permit required from the MNDM prior to commencement of hauling and milling of the stockpiles.

Use of proceeds from the Phase One project will be reinvested into Orefinders' Phase Two development which is the further evaluation of restarting operations from the Mirado's open pit mine.

“We are thrilled to be at this stage. Our team has put in a lot of work to get to this point, and we're excited about the prospect of generating cash flow to develop, not only our flagship Mirado Project in Kirkland Lake, but also our Derlak Project in Red Lake which is sandwiched between Pure Gold's Madsen and Premier Gold's Hasaga projects,” said Stewart.

Sampling Stockpiles at Mirado

He also said “while the Stockpile Project is an important part of our story, it is our underlying assets and their exploration upside which have the ability to create substantial value for our shareholders.

These stockpiles just happen to offer the prospect of near term cash flow, which is an extra tool in our kit that few other juniors have.”

Orefinders views Phase One as an opportunity to clean up the former mine site and to generate cash flow for the company’s ongoing exploration and development of the Mirado Project.

Phase One is a resource that was blasted and mined from the Mirado' open pit mine during its production in the 1980s.

Orefinders' has since completed a resource calculation on the stockpiles which delineated an inferred resource of 20,742 tonnes at an average grade of 4.41 grams per tonne for a total of 2,939 contained gold ounces.

As per the toll milling agreement, announced in July 14, 2016 news release, Orefinders will deliver a minimum 25,000 tonnes of resource from the Mirado to the Westwood Gold Mine for processing and extraction of gold.

Orefinders is a well-financed Canadian based junior gold exploration company focused in Canada's top gold producing districts of Ontario; Kirkland Lake and Red Lake.

The Mirado Gold Project is owned 100% by Orefinders and rests on patent mining claims containing surface and mining rights. The Mirado Project is well located in Catherine Township near Kirkland Lake, with year round road access and a local skilled labour force.

In June 2013, Orefinders commissioned SRK Consulting (Canada) Inc. to complete a mineral resource estimate for the Mirado Project which includes existing historical stockpiles. The mineral resource estimate based on the 2013 drilling program has now been finalized.

An inferred mineral resource of 10,618,000 tonnes with an average grade of 1.29 grams per tonne gold (gpt Au) in open pit, underground and three separate stockpiles located on Orefinders' 100% owned Mirado property has now been defined.

Mirado lies south of Kirkland Lake and the Larder Lake–Cadillac Fault in the Abitibi Greenstone Belt.

All land affected by development and mining activity must be rehabilitated after the activity has finished. A closure plan outlines how the affected land will be rehabilitated and the costs associated with doing so.

A closure plan must be developed and acknowledged by the MNDM before work can begin. Closure plans must be certified by company executives to ensure that they cover all of the conditions described in the Mine Rehabilitation Code and that all outlined rehabilitation tasks meet necessary technical requirements.