THUNDER BAY — The company that operates a palladium mine at Lac des Iles, north of Thunder Bay, says it has found encouraging results from the latest round of exploration at another property closer to the city.
North American Palladium is test-drilling on mining claims near Sunday Lake in Jacques Township, just 25 kilometres north of Thunder Bay.
In an announcement Monday, the company said its recent exploration program continued to expand a previously-discovered platinum-group-metal zone.
The property contains platinum, palladium, copper and some nickel.
"This is currently our most advanced regional exploration project and represents our best blue sky opportunity," said President and CEO Jim Gallagher.
He described the Sunday Lake project as a key element in the company's "long-term strategy of building an inventory of high-quality PGM assets in the Thunder Bay region...anchored by the Lac des Iles mill."
The deposits are 60 kilometres away from the operation at Lac des Iles, the continent's only "pure play" palladium mine which employs about 600 people.
David Peck, vice-president for Exploration at North American Palladium, said the company is encouraged by the higher PGM grades found in a drill hole in a newly-discovered western extension of the Sunday Lake deposit.
"The new drill results prove the effectiveness of advanced geophysical methods in detecting this mineralization at significant depths. We have continued to identify promising targets that warrant testing in the next phase of drilling," Peck added.
NAP is two years into a $5 million, five-year exploration program at Sunday Lake.
Under a 2017 agreement with Impala Holdings and Transition Metals, the company holds the right to eventually acquire a 75 per cent ownership stake in the property.
