Koper Lake (Duncan), Pender, and Hornby Properties

On June 15^th, 2011, several claims in the McFaulds Lake and Koper Lake areas that belonged to MacDonald Mines Exploration Ltd. (“MacDonald) were cancelled by MNDM and declared open for staking on June 17^th.  MacDonald  referred to these properties as Duncan and Pender (Figure 6). The northwest corner of the ground declared open for staking near Koper Lake (Duncan) is only 600 metres from Noront’s Eagle Two, Black Bird and Triple J mineral occurrences, and 2 kilometres from the Eagles Nest deposit. In anticipation that several other parties would be interested in staking these very important claims, KWG engaged a professional staking crew of 14 supported by 2 helicopters that had previous experience staking under opening day rules and in helicopter staking, a practical method of staking commonly used in the James Bay Lowlands. The premise of this method is that the staking regulations do not prescribe the mode of transport of the staker, and that although the staker had to be present, he did not necessarily have to be on the ground, providing that the stakers helpers marked the claim boundary on the ground concurrently with the erection of the claim post. With the exception of the #1 post, the staker inscribed the post from within the helicopter while hovering over the post location. The posts were erected by dropping them from the helicopter in a clockwise sequence starting and finishing at post #1. Two 16 -unit claims adjacent to Koper Lake were staked in just over an hour, followed by two more at McFaulds Lake (Pender). The only other stakers competing for the same ground were two individuals engaged by Noront to stake on foot. They completed staking two 2-unit claims by noon, and another two 2-unit claims by 4pm. The remainder of the open ground was staked during the following two days. MNDM accepted the recording of those claims staked on behalf of KWG on June 21st. MNDM later received applications to record claims on behalf of Noront as “filed only” status since their completion time was later than the KWG claims. Noront subsequently filed a dispute over the manner the KWG claims were staked. Almost 3 years later, on April 24 and 25^th, a Mining Recorders hearing was held and  ruled in KWG’s favour. Noront appealed  that ruling to the Mining and Lands Commissioners office. That hearing has yet to be scheduled.

Figure 6

MacDonald  let these claims lapse when the assessment credits gained from airborne geophysical surveys ran out. The surveys did not generate electro-magnetic conductors that warranted drill testing for volcanogenic massive sulphides that MacDonald  was searching for. However, the combined magnetic and gravity surveys on the Koper Lake (Duncan) and Pender claims do indicate the presence of a  mafic intrusion, a potential host to both chromite and nickel-copper mineralization.

On June 5^th, KWG announced the purchase of a property consisting of 4 16-unit claims (4221150, 4221151, 4221152 and 4221153) and 1 12-unit claim (4213083) from MacDonald , called the Hornby property (Figure 6). The claims are attached to the southern boundary of the Big Daddy claim block, and also attached to the eastern boundary of the Fancamp claims. MacDonald  drilled four holes on electro-magnetic targets searching for volcanogenic copper-zinc deposits without success. The most promising target on this property is on the westernmost claim where the Ring of Fire intrusion that hosts the Big Daddy chromite deposit crosses the claim. Based on both magnetic and gravity data, the claim contains approximately a 1 kilometer segment of the intrusion that has never been tested by drilling. In addition to the potential to discover chromite, the Hornby property should be explored for intrusion hosted nickel-copper deposits, volcanic hosted copper-zinc deposits and gold.