Can you provide a brief overview of Orford Mining’s portfolio?

Orford Mining’s portfolio is divided into three parts. We have the West Raglan nickel project in the Nunavikt region of Québec ,for which Wyloo Metals signed an earn-in agreement in January 2021 where they can earn up to 80% by spending C$25 million. West Raglan is a very high-grade nickel project, and we already have several discoveries on the 707 square km property which is 100% ours. Wyloo is spending C$5 million on 3,000 m of drilling this summer and Orford operates.

The company also owns the 390 square km Qiqavik gold project, also in the Nunavik region. There are high-grade gold multi-ounce assays across the entire property, and we are drilling 3,000 m there this summer as well. It is a brand-new gold district with no exploration history before us.

Thirdly, the company has picked up four properties in the Joutel region of the Abitibi district of Québec and recently finished drilling the Joutel Eagle project. Joutel is where Agnico Eagle started its gold mining, and we are located right next to the original Agnico Eagle gold mine that closed in 1993. We drilled three holes to confirm our theory on some mineralization, and we hit a large thick package of low-grade gold mineralization which would be quite amenable to an open pit mining.

Why do you believe the area surrounding Qiqavik was historically underexplored?

Qiqavik is in the same volcanic belt as our West Raglan property. There is a big fault that runs between the nickel-bearing rocks and the prospective gold rocks. No one paid attention to gold in that area as everyone was looking for nickel. It is a remote area, and unless you were already there, it’s a difficult place to start exploring for gold. Orford Mining was already exploring in the area looking for nickel and decided to expand its exploration for gold ore as well.

Drilling has confirmed shear-hosted and lode gold mineralization along several trends in various structural zones, including the newly discovered IP Lake Shear Corridor (IPLS). We are using glacial exploration methods to locate mineralization, and our work in 2021 has confirmed we are in the right area. We have extended the Annick boulder trend to 3.7 kms and believe we have found the source of that trend. We will be completing geophysics, geological mapping and drilling on this trend this year and will also conduct further work on the Eric boulder trend, Interlake shear zone, and IPLS zone.

Can you elaborate on the results of the Joutel Eagle drilling program?

We drilled three holes, sampled the entire drill hole, and intersected 46 m of 0.97 grams, which is a great intersection that close to surface. There was 28 m of 1.24 grams within that number, and we believe there is potential for low-grade gold ore bodies. We are in the early stages and our next steps will be to define scale and mineral tenure.

What are Orford Mining’s goals for the C$5 million exploration program at the West Raglan property?

In 2021, our MLTEM-SQUID survey returned 435 conductors, of which 72 are classified as high priority. The plan is to drill up to 15 of these high priority conductors which have been modeled against the mineralization we already have on the property, and we are quite hopeful that we will be intersecting massive sulfides similar to what we have seen before. We are drilling some new areas and are hoping for new discoveries.

How would you evaluate the financial climate surrounding Québec’s mining industry?

The way the regional and provincial governments treat mining is spectacular, probably the best in Canada. Québec has extra kick on the flow-through side – if you spend hard dollars in Nunavut, they give you up to 38% of your money back. There are also several funds that invest in Québec mining, which is a great benefit.

What are Orford Mining’s priorities for the next year?

We are working towards an ECOLOGO Certification which we hope to attain by the end of the year. We always ensure that we work well with our stakeholders and various local communities and employ as many local people or First Nation or Inuit-owned enterprises as possible.