What's cooking?
posted on
Mar 17, 2009 04:13PM
The company is exploring for nickel deposits on its Langmuir property near Timmins, Ontario; for nickel-gold-copper on its Cleaver and Douglas properties; and for molybdenum and rare earth elements at recently acquired Desrosiers property.
So it's anyone's guess what's coming down the pipe folks? SP and Volume precedes news and today was no exception.
Let's re-visit the tasks at hand and possibly in an order I would see as prioritized.
TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - May 16, 2008) - Inspiration Mining Corp. (the "Corporation") (TSX:ISM)(FRANKFURT:OI8) is pleased to announce it has commissioned Micon International of Toronto, Ontario, Canada to prepare a mineral resource estimate, a preliminary economic assessment (commonly referred to as a scoping study) and technical report on its Langmuir property. It is anticipated that the project will be undertaken in the following phases:
Phase I - Mineral resource estimates for Langmuir No. 1 in preparation of a bulk sample and mineral resource estimates for Langmuir No. 2. The mineral resource estimate will include Trend Analysis, Cut-Off Grade Estimates, Compositing, Bulk Density Review, Block Model Construction and Validation, and Open Pit Optimization for Langmuir No. 2.
Phase II - Preliminary economic assessments examining the potential economic viability of each zone of mineralization. This assessment will contemplate excavation of the mineralization at the Langmuir No.1 deposit by means of underground mining methods, and the excavation of the mineralization at the Langmuir No. 2 deposit by means of open pit mining methods. The results of the mineral resource estimates and preliminary economic assessment will be compiled in compliance with National Instrument 43-101.
Since 1959, the presence of nickel mineralization at the Langmuir property has been known with a small amount of production from the Langmuir No. 1 mine during the 1970-1978 period and again briefly during 1990-1991 using underground mining methods. Since 2005, Inspiration Mining has conducted an exploration and in-fill drilling program designed to identify the extension of the mineralization from the past producing zones at the Langmuir No. 1 deposit. At Langmuir No. 2, the Company has focused on the wide zones of mineralization extending from the past producing mine that may be exploited by means of open pit mining methods.
The mineralization at the Langmuir property is believed to be an example of a komatiite-hosted nickel deposit, similar to that found at the Raglan mine in northern Quebec, and in the Kambalda region of Western Australia. In these types of deposits, nickel mineralization can occur as small, but high grade, pods of massive sulphides that are situated in the keels of volcanic flows of ultramafic composition, and as disseminated and net-textured deposits that have lower grades, but are of larger sizes. Several occurrences of nickel mineralization have been outlined by Inspiration Mining, including the Langmuir No. 1 and the Langmuir No. 2 North and South Zones.
"We have taken a significant step towards the development of our project with today's announcement," said Randy Miller, President and CEO of Inspiration Mining. "We will continue to expand the scope of the program based off the results we have achieved and look forward to working with Micon International on this phase of the project."
Since 1988, Micon International Limited has provided consulting services to the international mining industry with particular focus upon mineral resource estimations, metallurgical services, mine design and production scheduling, preparation of pre-feasibility and feasibility studies, independent reviews of mining and mineral properties, project monitoring, independent engineer roles, financial analysis and litigation support. Micon has extensive experience with sulphide nickel deposits working on projects from Sudbury, Ontario to the Norilsk mine site in Russia.
Micon's clients include mining and mineral exploration companies, financial institutions and government agencies from around the world. A particular expertise has been developed in the economic evaluation of mining properties, including studies in support of debt and equity financing. Micon's professional staff has the experience, education and professional credentials to act as Qualified Persons and/or Competent Persons, as required by world-wide regulatory agencies."
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The next task and one mentioned later in early June:
TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - June 4, 2008) - Inspiration Mining Corp. (the "Corporation") (TSX:ISM)(FRANKFURT:OI8) is pleased to announce that SGS Minerals Services (SGS), the world's preeminent global supplier of metallurgical services, has been retained to conduct the metallurgical investigations required for the Langmuir deposit with work to commence immediately. Located in Langmuir Township south of Timmins, Ontario, the property consists of 69 unpatented contiguous mining claim units approximately 25 km southeast of Timmins, Ontario. It hosts the past producing Langmuir No.1 Mine, and majority of the past producing Langmuir No. 2 Mine. The project work will be done in Lakefield where SGS has a comprehensive team of professionals with significant expertise with nickel deposits, having completed several similar large projects.
The project will cover the grindability of the mineralization, chemical and mineralogical characterization, flotation testing, geotechnical and environmental testwork (including humidity cell and ageing studies) on a selection of samples from the project. The study will identify and evaluate metallurgical options and provide guidelines for potential future development. The testwork will be phased, with the initial work focusing on assessing the extractive metallurgy and the variability of the ore. A second phase of testwork will follow to optimize the proposed flowsheet, predict metal recoveries and map variability throughout the project. The metallurgical response of the Langmuir mineralization will be evaluated with respect to flowsheets typical of other producing nickel mines in Canada.
Inspiration President and CEO, Randy Miller, remarked "The initiation of this scoping metallurgical testwork at Langmuir marks another key milestone for Inspiration. With SGS engaged, this advanced-stage project has advanced another milestone in its development."
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Lastly there is the VTEM that was flown, will we get to hear about it or is it purely for internal use? This came later and was announced in late June:
3) Inspiration Mining Corporation: Geotech Commissioned for VTEM Survey (ccnm)
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TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - June 26, 2008) - Inspiration Mining Corporation (the "Corporation") (TSX:ISM)(FRANKFURT:OI8) is pleased to announce it has commissioned Geotech Ltd. ("Geotech") of Aurora, Ontario, Canada to conduct a helicopter-borne geophysical survey of the Langmuir Property using Geotech's Versatile Time-Domain Electromagnetic ("VTEM") geophysical system. The VTEM is the most innovative and successful airborne electromagnetic system to be introduced in more than 30 years. It is excellent for locating discrete conductive anomalies as well as mapping lateral and vertical variations in resistivity. The VTEM system has a high sensitivity cesium magnetometer for mapping geologic structure and lithology and a cesium magnetometer base station for diurnal correction. "The VTEM survey represents a significant step towards the development of the Langmuir project," said Randy Miller, President of the Corporation. "The survey will provide valuable information as to the mineral potential of the property and will enable the Corporation to fully develop the potential of the property." Geotech provides full service contract airborne geophysical surveys with their proprietary, large dipole moment, VTEM system. Geotech operates nine VTEM systems in Canada of the world-wide total of 22. Their clients are mainly from the mineral and petroleum exploration industries. Its proprietary VTEM system, in the five years since its first commercial survey, has become the airborne system of choice by the exploration community. A number of exploration successes have been attributed to VTEM surveys by the exploration companies." |