A scarcity of geoscience data and a lack of infrastructure have hampered mineral exploration in this portion of the Southeastern Churchill Province ("SECP") in the past. Relatively recent exploration in the area was stimulated by the Voiseys Bay copper-nickel discovery in the mid-1990s.
A Geological Survey of Canada 1:500,000 scale geological mapping project was released in 1979 (Taylor, 1979) which indicated that the bedrock was dominated by granitic gneiss and granitic plutons.
Soquem completed a lake sediment sampling program in the area extending southward from Ungava Bay to the Grenville Front in 1994. This survey covers all of the Company's properties. However, the results are not available for examination. In 1994-95 Soquem and joint venture partner Placer Dome explored Permit 1048, located approximately 20 km east of claim block # 1, using a "porphyry copper" deposit model (Poirier, 1995). Results were disappointing and the property was abandoned.
In 1998 Noranda Mines and Exploration Inc. ("Noranda") participated in the "Grand Nord" program, whereby financial participation in the cost of a lake sediment geochemical survey conducted by the Ministère des Ressource Naturelles et de la Faune (the "MRNF"), conveyed the right to analyze all the data prior to public disclosure. A draw amongst the five corporate participants determined the land selection process. None of the Company's properties were included in the areas chosen. Noranda's focus was base metals, and not uranium. Field work discovered disseminated to massive pyrite and pyrrhotite containing sub-economic concentrations of copper and zinc (Noranda, 1998).
In 1998, Falconbridge Limited ("Falconbridge") also participated in the "Grand Nord" program and was awarded seven permit areas. Similar to Noranda the focus was on nickel and base metals, with no regard for uranium mineralization. None of the Company's properties were covered by the Falconbridge exploration activities. Falconbridge located several ultramafic intrusions, but did not discover any significant sulphide mineralization (Lessard, 2001).
WMC International Limited ("WMC") explored the Core Zone in the period 2000-2002 searching for magmatic nickel-copper-cobalt-platinum group element sulphide mineralization. Uranium was not searched for within the permit area. Exploration activities included AMAG and AEM surveys followed by ground magnetic, electromagnetic, gravity and geological / prospecting surveys. Geochemical surveys included heavy mineral, humus, soil, stream sediments and rock sampling. Nine drill holes were completed, but none were drilled on claim blocks 7 and 8, which then were part of the WMC exploration land position. Results were disappointing, as only a few small occurrences of nickel-copper-cobalt-platinum group element sulphide mineralization were located (WMC, 2002).
