By Judy Baker
Argo Gold was founded in the rising gold price environment of 2016 to help Canada maintain a leadership position in mineral exploration and gold mining. Canada has become the fifth largest gold producer in the world and the Argo Gold team – Bill Kerr and Delio Tortosa – saw Northwestern Ontario as a relatively underexplored part of Canada with high-grade gold deposits. Gold mining companies want to be in Canada again – a known jurisdiction. Canadian operations are able to attract top talent and run efficiently, and the operations they have here have continued to produce for them.
Argo Gold’s team had worked diligently to identify high-grade gold discoveries that were not adequately followed up upon. It is interesting that two of Argo Gold’s projects – McVicar Lake and Woco – were active exploration projects in 1993. This is the year British Columbia expropriated the Windy Craggy copper gold deposit causing an exodus of risk capital for Canada that resulted in mineral exploration spending dropping 80 per cent countrywide.
Argo Gold started off by staking the McVicar Lake Gold Project in May 2016. McVicar Lake is located on the Bear Head Fault Zone 30 kilometres northwest of the past-producing Golden Patricia Mine (600,000 ounces at 14 grams per tonne gold). The Lang Lake greenstone volcanics and adjacent porphyries are a typical host for gold mineralization. Exploration work by BHP in 1993 identified the Chellow Vein outcrop which averages 28 gram per tonne gold over a 70-metre strike length.
Argo Gold also acquired five Wawa, Ont.-area projects located near two producing mining companies: Wesdome Gold’s Eagle River Mine and Mishi Open Pit and Richmont’s Island Gold Mine (now Alamos Gold). The Macassa Creek, Mishi Lake, Abbie Lake, Wawa South and Rockstar Gold Projects all have historic drilling and trenching that indicate the projects have both low-grade, open-pit potential and high-grade underground potential – particularly given their proximity to two gold mills. Given the advancement of the Wawa area mines, the buyout of Richmont Mines and the demand for exploration properties in the area, Argo Gold sold its Wawa South and Rockstar Gold Projects, but maintains three gold projects proximal to Wesdome’s mining operations.
In November 2016, Argo Gold acquired the flagship Woco Gold Project. Originally discovered in 1993 and drilled in 1993 and 1994 has drill intercepts of mineable gold grades over mineable widths. The project is located in the Birch-Uchi Greenstone Belt, which also hosts the multi-million-ounce Springpole deposit. Located 1.5 kilometres south of the past-producing Uchi Mine, 1993 drill intercept highlights include 1.89 ounces per ton over 11.9 feet and 1.83 ounces per ton over six feet. Down-plunge and strike extension drilling highlights in 1994 include 4.08 ounces per ton over 6.9 feet and 1.24 ounces per ton over 5.6 feet. Argo Gold initiated field exploration at Woco in May 2016 and has continued to consolidate mineral claims around the project as well as advance exploration activities. Argo Gold acquired the adjacent Northgate block in August 2017 and the adjacent Geisler patents in February 2018. In the spring of 2018, Argo Gold staked the southwest extension block along the favourable north horizon of the Uchi Deformation Zone. Throughout 2017, Argo Gold has compiled and digitized all historic data for the consolidated Woco Gold Project. As well, Argo Gold has incorporated the results of its 2017 field exploration program and drill hole survey, which were the key catalysts for consolidating additional ground in the greenstone belt.
More recently, Argo Gold staked the Angela Lake Gold Project located near the Springpole deposit. Gold was identified in basil till in the 1970s. Further exploration in the 1980s resulted in the discovery of boulders with visible gold, to 0.5-centimetre diameter on a cut surface, hosted within thin quartz veinlets in a metasedimentary host rock. Initial drilling in the 1980s encountered 0.3 metres of 3.7 g/t, and confirmed that the metasedimentary host rock encountered in drilling was identical to the boulders hosting the high-grade mineralization.
All of the company’s projects are 100-per cent owned and have indications of economic viability. The company has 30 million shares outstanding and a market cap of Canadian of $5 million. Argo Gold is listed on the Canadian Stock Exchange (CSE) under the symbol “ARQ”.
