With global conflict and resource nationalism having placed geopolitical uncertainty among the top risks for mining companies, those with projects in safe jurisdictions will be rewarded, says Canadian explorer Maple Gold Mines CEO Matthew Hornor.

The company operates in the prolific Abitibi Greenstone Gold Belt of Quebec, where it is in a 50:50 joint venture (JV) with senior gold miner Agnico Eagle Mines on two projects.

Hornor believes that mining and exploration projects in countries such as Canada and the US can command a premium and that the market should reward companies operating in safe jurisdictions. 

Resource nationalism has long been a concern for the mining industry and appears to be on the rise again, as governments in mineral-rich areas target resource companies to extract more cash for State coffers.

“Mining is very difficult, from every angle and at every step. One thing you can do to give yourself a better chance is to be in a great location that is supportive of the industry,” says Hornor, who as a former Ivanhoe Mines executive has worked in “less supportive” countries, including Mongolia and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

For Hornor, Quebec ticks all the boxes, with mining-friendly policies, including a rebate for exploration activities, good infrastructure, and a large and skilled workforce.

The Abitibi belt, which stretches from Wawa in Ontario to Chibougamau in Quebec, is right where Maple Gold Mines sees its future to establish a new gold district through resource expansion and new discoveries. “The Abitibi is an amazing place to operate in. It has all these breaks that have been prolific in producing hundreds of millions of ounces. We expect that there will be hundreds of million more ounces produced from the Abitibi in future.”

“I am kind of sitting in a sandbox with a lot of toys; I don’t have to go to another sandbox,” he says in an interview with Mining Weekly.

Maple is working to extend the legacy of the Abitibi, which has produced more than 200-million ounces of gold since early 1900, with two projects that it believes hold the potential to establish a new district-scale gold camp.

Under the JV with Agnico Eagle, Maple is advancing the Douay and Joutel projects, with an established gold resource at Douay that holds expansion potential, as well as the past-producing Eagle, Telbel and Eagle West mines at Joutel.

In addition, Maple has an exclusive option to acquire 100% of the Eagle mine property, which is an inlier property within the Joutel project.

The company is advancing a robust drilling programme on its 400 km² property package. At Eagle, more than 14 000 m of drilling has been completed and Maple has started reporting assay results, which support its view that multiple sub-parallel gold horizons exist beyond what was historically mined. Hornor says “several compelling targets” will be followed up this year.

Deep drilling at Joutel’s Telbel mine area is testing the down-plunge continuity of gold mineralisation. This 6 000 m programme is about to be wrapped up.

Maple’s drilling focus is then shifting to Douay, where a 10 000 m deep drilling programme is being expedited to test potential depth extensions below the current pit-constrained mineral resource.

Hornor believes that its approach of aggressively drilling deeper underneath the existing package will yield results for Maple, which has the support of its partner Agnico to pursue these deeper targets. “They are completely supportive, because, like us, they are going for these quantum leap changes to the resource package.”

Regarding the JV participation at the Eagle project, which is currently 100% under its horsepower, Hornor says Maple is “keeping an open mind”.

“Eagle was the namesake of Agnico Eagle. That was a project that they started with; I think it is fair to say their first-ever underground gold exploration project - something we value quite highly. The historical intercepts that we found and created a three-dimensional model around, show that there is a lot of material left behind.

“I think there is going to be quite a bit of excitement around the project as we move it forward.”