The James Bay Exploration Activity Area as defined by the DigiGeoData map is in northwestern Quebec and borders to the west on James Bay.
The primary commodity is gold.
There are two producing mines in this area: the Eleonore gold mine and the Renard diamond mine. The Eastmain gold mine produced gold for two years from 1994 to 1995.
There are an additional eight mineral deposits that have reported NI 43-101 compliant resources.
Exploration for other minerals include lithium, iron ore, copper, silver, molybdenum, uranium, nickel, cobalt, platinum and palladium.
GOLD
Endowment
Gold endowment as of December 31, 2019 for the James Bay area not including inferred resources was just over 4.41 million ounces. Adding the inferred resources of 2.82 million ounces increases total gold endowment to 7.23 million ounces. Prior to 2014, historical gold production was 40,000 ounces which came from the Eastmain mine. The current production is from the Eleonore mine, now owned by Newmont. Eleonore started producing in 2014 and has had continuous production with the 2019 yearly production of 346,000 ounces.
Reserves and Resources
As of December 31 2019, total gold resouces was 5.64 million ounces. This included Proven and Probable of 1.28 million, Exclusive Measured and Indicated of 1.53 million ounces and Inferred 2.82 million ounces.
The gold resources in this area are from five projects including the Eleonore Mine and the Eastmain Mine. The Eastmain Mine deposit is owned 100% by Eastmain Resources (TSX-ER) with Benz Mining Corp. (TSX-V:BZ) recently signing an option agreement to earn 100% of the project . In addition there is the Eau Claire gold deposit on the Clearwater property owned by Eastmain Resources. The Eau Claire deposit is in the Preliminary Economic Assehttp://benzmining.com/ssment stage.
The latest gold resource added to this area is the Cheechoo deposit owned by Sirios Resources (TSX-V:SOI). Sirios announced a maiden inferred gold ressource in December 2019.
Exploration activity for gold continues in the James Bay area.
Azimut Exploration (TSX-V:AZM) discovered a new gold zone on their Elmer property in 2019 and have recently announced a new drill program.
Quebec Precious Metals TSX-V:CJC) flagship project is the Sakami gold project with significant grades and drill ready targets.
Harfang Exploration (TSX-V:HAR) are actively exploring a number of projects in the area including Lake Menarik which has a publish NI 43-101 technical report.
Midland Exploration (TSX-V:MD) is a prospect generator with a number of preciuos and base metal properties in the James Bay area.
DIOS Exploration (TSX-V:DOS) have a number of gold projects including the AU33 property where recent drilling reseulted in the discovery of the Heberto gold zone.
Lasalle Exploration’s (TSX-V:LSX) Radisson property is being explored for gold and copper with potential for magmatic Cu-Ni-PGE.
Northern Superior Resources (TSX-V:SUP) is exploring their Wapistan property for gold and silver and identified several occurrences from grab sample assays.
Gaia Metals (TSX-V:GMC) is exploring for a variety of minerals in the James Bay area. Their Corvette-FCI project is their primary asset
Royal Gold (TSX-V:ROYL) have interests in properties located near the Azimut Elmer property.
King Global Ventures (TSX-V:KING) have an interest in a gold grass roots project near the Eleonore mine.
DIAMONDS
Endowment
The James Bay area is home to Quebec’s only producing diamond mine. Total diamond endowment at December 31, 2018 without inferred resources is 25.42 million carats. Adding the inferred resource of 13 million carats increases the total diamond endowment to 38.42 million Carats.
The Renard mine was brought into production by Stornoway Diamond in 2016. It is still producing but under new ownership. The 2019 production was just over 900,000 carats.
Reserves and Resources
As of December 31 2018, the total diamond resource was 35 million carats. This includes Proven and Probable reserves of 35 million carats, Exclusive Measured & Indicated resources of 3.7 million carats and Inferred resources of 13 million carats.
LITHIUM
Exploration for lithium in the James Bay area has been active for several years
Endowment
As of December 31 2019, there has been no lithium production in the James Bay area. Total lithium endowment without inferred resources is 4.69 billion pounds of Li2O. Adding in the Inferred resources of 536.72 million pounds, total lithium endowment is 5.22 billion pounds Li2O.
Resources
The James Bay area contains three lithium deposits at various stages which include:
1. James Bay Lithium deposit at the Resource stage
2. Whabouchi deposit at the Feasibility stage
3. Rose Lithium/Tantalum deposit at the Feasibility stage
As of December 31, 2019 the total Lithium resource was 5.22 billion pounds Li2O which includes 1.55 billion pounds of Proven and Probable, 3.13 billion pounds of Exclusive Measured and Indicated and 536.72 million pounds of Inferred.
Gaia Metals Pontax lithium property is situated near the Rose deposit.
IRON ORE
Century Global’s (TSX:CNT) Duncan Lake Magnetite project is at the Preliminary Economic Analysis stage and contains resources in the Measured and Indicated and Inferred category.
BASE & PRECIOUS METALS
As shown in the endowment table above, there is active exploration for base and precious minerals. There are two deposits that have outlined compliant NI 43-101 resources.
1. Lac MacLeod: copper, gold, molybdenum and silver
2. Nisk-1: nickel, copper, cobalt, platinum, palladium
URANIUM
The Matoush deposit is the only property with uranium resources in the James Bay area.