By Cindy Chan
Generation Mining may be a relatively new company, but its roots go far deeper than what meets the eye.
Generation Mining, incorporated in January 2018, is a mineral exploration and development company which focuses on palladium, copper, zinc and molybdenum projects in Canada (more details can be found on its website at genmining.com). Generation Mining holds majority interest in an advanced project called the Marathon Palladium deposit in Northern Ontario, as well as four promising explorations in British Columbia, Nova Scotia and the Northwest Territories.
Jamie Levy, president and CEO of Generation Mining, says the company is actualy a spinout of a company called Pine Point Mining, which was taken over by Osisko Metals Inc. in February of 2018.
“The expiration assets out of Pine Point were put into Generation Mining,” Levy explains, adding that Pine Point had been around since the 1990s.
Discovered in the 1940s to 1950s, the Marathon property was developed from 1985 to 2010 by various companies with over 203,000 metres of drilling in 1,094 holes. Marathon PGM Corporation eventually owned the property, and completed a feasibility study in 2008 and another in 2010. Stillwater Mining, which operates out of Montana, took over the property in 2010 for US$118 million.
“Stillwater had worked on this asset for a few years,” Levy says. Eventually, after extensive permitting and additional studies, Stillwater placed the property on care of maintenance as palladium hovered near $500 per ounce. In 2016, South African miner Sibanye purchased Stillwater, becoming Sibanye-Stillwater.
“We approached Sibanye-Stillwater in early 2019 that we were interested in the Marathon property,” Levy says. “We closed the deal on July 10.”
Generation Mining acquired the Marathon Palladium Project by purchasing the initial 51 per cent interest for $6 million, with an option to increase that holding to 80 per cent.
According to Levy, below is what Generation Mining has as historic resources from the Marathon deposit in the southern property:
- 3,591,000 ounces of palladium
- 908,000 ounces of platinum
- 365,000 ounces of gold,
- 881,000,000 pounds of copper
- 6,515,000 ounces PD EQ
- 1.45 g/t PD EQ grade into the Main Zone
Eighty-five per cent of palladium is used for autocatalysts. A typical automobile uses three to seven grams of palladium. A worldwide deficit in palladium pushed the price to a record high of $1,600 per ounce earlier this year.
The Marathon property is a three-hour drive from Thunder Bay, Ont. It is located on the Trans-Canada Highway – next to the Marathon airport – served by the CPR main rail line and will have abundant power available from grid when a major new power line being built from Wawa to Thunder Bay is completed (it will cross directly over the Marathon property).
Marathon’s main deposit dips moderately west, providing optimal open-pit mining conditions. Mineralization ranges from four metres to a maximum thickness of 185 metres, averaging 35 metres. The deposit is open at depth with potential for UG expansion from the bottom of the pit.
On July 25, 2019, Generation Mining announced its passive seismic program on the Sally area of the Marathon property. The Sally area is located 20 kilometres from the Town of Marathon and 15 kilometres northwest along strike from the main Marathon PGM-Cu deposit. The survey is designed to identify the potential for higher-grade PGM deposits at depth.
“Seismic has been used for a long time. Passive seismic is a relatively new tool for mining although it has been used in oil exploration for some years,” Levy says.
The 200-sensor passive seismic survey commenced on July 19, with results slated to come out mid-September. Passive seismic detets the earth’s natural low frequency signals, which differs from active seismic since it doesn’t require a strong source to induce seismic waves, therefore environmentally benign and cost-effective.
“Our overall goal is to find a higher-grade deposit while at the same time examining the economics of the current deposit at these near-record palladium prices,” Levy says.
