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NEW
YORK -- Toronto
listed venture-miner, Canarc Resource Corporation [CCM], is billing itself
as another potential Nevsun [NSU] or Novagold [NRI]; the two Canadian
juniors that led global gold equity performances in 2002 and 2001
respectively.
Given that
Canarc was the 20th best performer on our 2002 worldwide watchlist, that
may take some doing, but it is not improbable as the company dusts off
several projects that have an in-the-money sheen at present gold prices.
Canarc’s
primary asset is the New Polaris mine in British Columbia which has a
resource base of 1.5 million ounces. The previously worked mine has been
the subject of a scoping study intended to render it economic enough to
restart, primarily through improving metallurgical
recoveries.
The company
today reported that testing commissioned by it had improved recoveries,
but further optimisation work is required to successfully bio-leach New
Polaris’s refractory gold ores at scale. The bio leach option offers the
best return on investment; however, an autoclave option comes into play if
Redcorp Ventures [RDV] proceeds with plans to reactivate the nearby
Tulsequah Chief zinc-copper project.
The Tulsequah
project has been tied up in legal wrangling for some time, but was finally
granted a Project Approval Certificate in December that would allow it to
proceed to production. Redcorp has indicated that it is doing further
drilling while it looks at financing and joint venture options. That
suggests a start-up decision is still some way off, so Canarc’s best hope
to realize a return on New Polaris is a rapid and successful result on its
continuing bio-leaching tests. Meanwhile, Canarc benefits from the
permitting trail hacked out by Redcorp.
A good deal of
interest also surrounds Canarc’s Benzdorp property in Suriname. The
company already operates the small Sara Kreek gold project in Suriname,
but Benzdorp is vastly different – a potentially multi-million ounce gold
porphyry system in a prolific zone. Although grades are low, the company
has reported finding high grade shear zones within a large footprint,
while processing costs should be low thanks to easy ground conditions and
mineralization at surface.
Canarc
recently recommenced work on Benzdorp after suspending work for some time
after the state mining company failed to give it secure title to the
project after it was optioned to Placer Dome [PDG]. A trenching and
drilling programme recently got underway with the intention of confirming
a resource base. Early results are expected before
month-end.
Optimists
believe the eventual project could be equivalent to, or better than,
Cambior’s [CBJ] soon-to-be commissioned Gross Rosebel
project. |
