Jul 11 2014
Nouveau Monde Mining Enterprises Inc. ("Nouveau Monde") is pleased to announce the acquisition of the Waasikusuu diamond exploration project located in the southeastern James Bay area of Québec, between the villages of Waskaganish and Matagami.
The Waasikusuu property is underlain by the Archean Superior craton which hosts the economic Attawapiskat and Renard kimberlites. The exploration target is a cluster of well defined, isolated and circular magnetic anomalies selected from 250 m line-spacing airborne survey flown by the Quebec Government in 2011-2012. Nouveau Monde considers that a number of elements indicate the project area is most favourable for kimberlites. First, it rests up-ice of where abundant kimberlitic indicator minerals (KIMs) were recovered from basal till samples collected by Majescor Resources in the mid-2000s. Elevated KIM counts and the presence of fragile surface textures on many of the grains strongly suggested proximity to source while the mineralogy of the KIMs which included G10, G9 and G1 garnet, picroilmenite, forsteritic olivine and chrome diopside implied a unified source.
Additionally, the property remains underexplored, although it lies on a favourable structural corridor identified by Quebec Government geologists in the late 1990s. The presence of an outlier of Devonian sediments mapped on part of the project area suggests that little erosion has occurred compared to surrounding regions, arguing for a potential for large pipes as at Attawapiskat. Finally, the sector does not lend itself readily to glacial sediment or alluvium sampling as the glacial geology is complex and characterized by an overburden cover which includes late glacial lacustrine marine clay. For this reason, as a first phase, the highest-priority magnetic anomalies from the property will be followed up by high-definition helicopter-borne geophysical surveying, and possibly subjected to appropriate ground geophysical methodologies prior to drilling.
Nouveau Monde has an option to earn a 75% interest in the project in consideration of i) 125,000 shares of Nouveau Monde at the Exchange approval of the agreement, ii) 20,000$ worth of exploration work contracts in favor of the optionor, iii) financing the drill-testing of four kimberlite targets in the next 18 months and iv) 100,000$ payable in cash or shares in the next 18 months. Following the exercise of the first option, Nouveau Monde has an exclusive second option to acquire the remaining 25% interest by making staged annual payments totalling 2.5M$ over 10 years. The optionor is to retain a 2.5% Gross Overriding Royalty on diamonds and a 2.5% Net Smelter Royalty on other commodities, of which 1.25% could be purchased back by Nouveau Monde for 1.25M$.
Eric Desaulniers, President & CEO of Nouveau Monde states: 'Following a review of the Waasikusuu project by our directors and consultants, whom together, total more than 35 years of diamond exploration experience, we believe that for a minor amount of money wisely invested in geophysics and exploration drilling on the project, Nouveau Monde has a great opportunity of making a new world-class kimberlite field discovery in keeping with our project-generator business model.'
The technical information in this news release was prepared by Antoine Cloutier, geo, chief geologist for Nouveau Monde who acts as a qualified person under National Instrument 43-101.
About Nouveau Monde
Nouveau Monde is a mining exploration company holding a large portfolio of properties for base and precious metals, and industrial minerals in the province of Québec. Our business model is based on the generation of projects in new, underexplored territories using the most advanced remote sensing and geophysical tools available in the industry. Our expertise with these modern tools allows us to perform cost effective exploration work while maximizing the chance for major discoveries. Our company is looking to develop its prospects in partnership with the objectives to expose our shareholders to a multitude of potential world-class discoveries.