MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

GOLD AND CRITICAL MINERALS CONTINUE TO DOMINATE

By Garry Clark

Exploration in Ontario continues at a steady pace. The target of exploration companies and prospectors have been varied. The dominant commodity continues to be gold a with strong focus on “critical metals.” Critical metals are wide ranging across the province with lithium and rare earth elements potentially leading the way. Copper, platinum group metals and nickel metals continue to be explored on new and historic mineralized zones. Exploration is well distributed across the province with the classic hotspots receiving large amounts of exploration dollars.

There is a worldwide shortage of experienced exploration contractors but luckily, work in Ontario continues going forward. We see contractors being creative with bringing employees from other provinces to accomplish the projects. The people shortage doesn’t look like it is going to correct soon, so explorers will have to plan for delays and book contractors early.

Australian explorers have been flocking to Ontario, picking up exploration projects covering numerous commodities. Along with these exploration projects, Australian investors are acquiring advanced projects. Examples are the recent changes at the Ring of Fire and Harte Gold’s Sugar Zone. The interest by Australians verifies the quality of the geology of Ontario as a fertile exploration regime.

The Ontario government introduced the second phase of the Ontario Junior Exploration Program (OJEP). This portion of the program provides matching funds as a grant of up to $200,000. The funding total of $3.0 million is provided as a first-come first-served application. Government assistance to exploration through grant programs dates to the 1980s with a cessation of funding from 1996 to 2016. In 2016, the OPA, funded by the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation, delivered a grant program over a two-year period ($5.0 million). The OPA-led Junior Exploration Assistance Program (JEAP) funded numerous projects of varied commodities across the province.

Visible gold from Harte Gold’s Sugar Zone. Australian interest in this and other mineral zones in the province speaks to the value of Ontario’s mineral resources.

Photo: Harte Gold

Government grant programs are designed to stimulate local and provincial socioeconomics by attracting and retaining explorers. The jobs created reverberate across the province. The grants led to new mineral discoveries and knowledge of the geological environment. Grant monies also stimulate explorers to test areas that may not have otherwise been reviewed.

Chris Taylor, President and CEO of Great Bear Resources, applauds the OJEP program for allowing his company to have the additional funds that led to the discovery of a world-class gold zone not previously seen in the Red Lake area. The original exploration program was assisted by a $100,000 JEAP grant! Since the new discovery, Great Bear has completed more than 350,000 kilometres of diamond drilling in the Zone. This gold discovery has also led to millions of dollars of expenditures on newly acquired claims by numerous junior explorers attracted to Ontario. All these exploration dollars stimulated the economy of the area and the province. Great Bear’s gold discovery has attracted the attention of major mining companies.

“Kinross to purchase Great Bear for $29 per share, a total of $1.8 Billion!” This will relate to hundreds of millions of exploration dollars that which will support the local economy and the Province.

A review of flow through funds raised across the country show record amounts of exploration dollars raised in most provinces. This will lead to a busy year in Ontario.

Please take care exploring this year! Remember discoveries like Great Bear are out there waiting to be discovered!

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