THUNDER BAY — North American Palladium has decided to add nearly $6 million to the exploration budget for its Lac des Iles palladium mine, 90 km north of Thunder Bay.
The company's announcement Wednesday followed encouraging results from test drilling in a recently-discovered mineral zone.
"Additional drilling results...suggest that a large area of palladium mineralization is present" in the vicinity, the company said as it issued an update on its underground exploration program.
"Based on the large and growing number of underground exploration targets, we are increasing our 2019 exploration and definition drilling budget by $5.7 million," said President and CEO Jim Gallagher.
Gallagher said the additional funding will allow North American Palladium to accelerate drilling on most of its underground targets, including the new zone and several others.
"With our recently expanded target bank and a larger drilling budget, we are increasingly optimistic about the prospects for significant additions to our palladium inventory at Lac des Iles," he added.
The company's statement noted that the recently-discovered zone is close to existing mining areas, meaning capital costs for development would be low.
The mine employs over 600 workers, and is one of only two primary palladium mines in the world.
