Acadian Mining Corporation holds a large portfolio of gold properties totalling approximately 34,000 hectares in the Nova Scotia goldfields in Canada. Seven of these properties host historic gold mines. The Company is presently concentrating on developing its 4 advanced gold properties; Beaver Dam, Forest Hill, Tangier, and Goldenville, all of which are 100% owned. Each of these 4 properties hosts gold resources described in technical reports prepared by independent consultants in compliance with National Instrument 43-101 and are available on www.sedar.com. Current gold resources stand at 626,000 ounces (cut) in the measured and indicated categories and 909,000 ounces (cut) in the inferred category. (See Table below)
The bulk of the Corporation’s gold effort in 2007 has been directed at Beaver Dam as this project shows potential to be amenable to bulk tonnage – open pit mining as well as underground mining. The updated resource estimate announced for the Beaver Dam property on July 16, 2007 increased the Corporation’s measured and indicated gold resources to 626,000 ounces and inferred resources to 909,000 on its four advanced gold properties. This places the Beaver Dam property in the position as a potential site for a central milling facility which in addition to treating Beaver Dam material, would also mill material from the Corporation’s other potential mine sites, at Forest Hill, Goldenville and Tangier, all of which are contemplated as underground operations. Scoping and metallurgical studies currently underway on Beaver Dam are in the final stages, and although these were expected to be completed in Q4-07, these are now not anticipated to be completed until mid-Q1-08. In the event underground mining is determined to be an important factor in the development of Beaver Dam, additional infill drilling and a bulk sampling program will likely be required before a production decision is made.
Diamond drill results were released (May 10, 2007) for Acadian’s 100% owned Goldenville property. These results are considered favourable and warrant the continuation into a second phase drill program. Goldenville, along with Forest Hill and Tangier, are the Company’s principal, advanced underground gold properties all of which host National Instrument 43-101 compliant gold resources, which along with Beaver Dam, form integral parts of Acadian’s central processing strategy. With the exception of Forest Hill and Beaver Dam which are subject to small overriding royalties, all four of these gold properties are 100% owned by Acadian.
Acadian Mining Corporation believes the central processing strategy is a key to successfully developing the gold properties in the Nova Scotia goldfields resulting in reduced capital and operating costs associated with building and operating one processing facility versus multiple plants.The Company is particularly focused on identifying and exploring properties with potential for bulk tonnage – open pittable gold deposits. This focus is reflected in two optioned properties, Lake Catcha and Oldham. An initial drill program at Lake Catcha intersected 44 metres grading 0.46 g/t gold and 53 metres grading 0.61 g/t gold.
The current gold price and favourable price fundamentals going forward are strong incentives for accelerating the development of the Corporation’s advanced gold properties – i.e. Beaver Dam, Goldenville, Forest Hill and Tangier. To accelerate the development of these four properties, the Corporation will require substantial funding. To this end, the Corporation is currently investigating the merits of segregating the gold assets into a new public company (“Newco”), and distributing a portion of the shares of Newco to shareholders of Acadian. It is contemplated that Newco would raise the necessary capital to develop the four gold properties in the capital markets. This spin off could be affected by way of a “plan of arrangement” and, if a decision is made to proceed, is estimated it would take six to eight months to complete. There can be no assurance that any transaction may arise from these deliberations and any such transaction would be conditional on receipt of all necessary shareholder, regulatory and court approvals.
GOLD HIGHLIGHTS
· Announced additional drill results for the Beaver Dam property on February 1, 2007, March 1, 2007, June 5, 2007, and October 22, 2007. Drill holes of particular note included BD2006-90 which intersected 45 metres grading 3.32 g/t gold, BD2006-110 which intersected 40 metres grading 4.81 g/t gold, BD 07-134 which intersected 30 metres grading 3.22 g/t gold and BD07-139 which intersected 58.0 metres grading 1.59 g/t gold.
· Completed an updated resource estimate for Beaver Dam on July 16, 2007 which on a cut basis and a 0.3 g/t cut-off showed 9,080,000 tonnes in the measured and indicated categories grading 1.53 g/t gold for 446,000 ounces contained gold (measured – 670,000 tonnes @ 1.54 g/t gold and indicated 8,410,000 tonnes @ 1.52 g/t gold), plus 10,400,000 tonnes in the inferred category grading 1.51 g/t gold for 504,000 ounces contained gold. Final technical report filed on SEDAR on September 17, 2007.
· Announced results on February 19, 2007 of initial drill program on Lake Catcha property which confirmed the property’s prospectivity for low grade – bulk tonnage gold deposit. Drill holes LC-06-04 and LC-06-05 intersected 44 metres grading 0.46 g/t gold and 53 metres grading 0.61 g/t gold respectively.
· Results from an initial drill program on the Goldenville property released on May 10, 2007. Drill holes of particular note included GV06-04 which intersected 20.41 g/t gold over 2.91 metres and 60.43 g/t over 1.2 metres.