Canada is in terms of landscape, making it a great country for mining natural resources and minerals, including copper. As of 2020, Canadian mines produced almost 476,000 tons of copper concentrate, with most of that coming from British Columbia. And while Chile is the leading global producer of copper — having produced almost 30 per cent in 2020 — Canada is nearing the top 10 where it currently sits as the 11th largest producer globally.
Even though it sits just outside of the top 10 copper-producing countries, Canada dominates in environmental, social and government (ESG), making it an ideal jurisdiction to meet the growing global demand for copper while also ensuring the supply chain is safe and secure for years to come.
Meet Callinex Mines Inc. (TSXV:CNX, OTCQX:CLLXF, Forum), a Vancouver, BC-based company focused on the acquisition, exploration and development of base and precious metals within established Canadian mining districts. [MP1] Notably, Callinex Mines is focused on its exploration activities in the Flin Flon, Manitoba region. Callinex is primarily focused on its VMS Pine Bay Project where it is rapidly expanding the Rainbow and Alchemist deposits, located near existing infrastructure in the Flin Flon Mining District.
In an interview with The Market Herald Canada, Callinex Mines’ CEO Max Porterfield explains what gives the company a leg up is the fact that it now has two emerging discoveries with some of the highest grades of copper at its Rainbow deposit on a global basis.
‘“[The Rainbow and Alchemist] discoveries that [the company] is delineating right now are within an advanced permitted area, adjacent to a hydroelectric powerline and have direct road access to the skilled workforce in Flin Flon, Manitoba,” Porterfield said.
He added that the only existing mine in Flin Flon closed earlier this year where many residents lost their jobs, but that Callinex Mines’ focus has always been to find the next flagship anchor mine for the Flin Flon community, understanding that existing mine had a finite life.
“These discoveries come at a key time, they’re unique and there’s a community component to what we’re onto, and that’s what drives us,” Porterfield told The Market Herald Canada.
The Flin Flon Focus
Porterfield said that as a whole, the Flin Flon district is one of the top VMS districts globally in terms of the grades and historic production. In terms of endowment, he added, the region is one of the richest areas in the world and is known for high-grade base metals with significant gold as well.
For roughly 100 years, Porterfield said Flin Flon had a track record of mining and that the camp was started with the initial discovery of the Flin Flon deposit, which was one of the richest mineral finds in Canadian history.
“Now, there has been no new mine found … but the discovery of the Rainbow and now the discovery of Alchemist, they’re brand new and we believe they’re writing a new chapter to the community’s storied history,” he said.
The Pine Bay Project
The company is currently rapidly expanding the high-grade copper/zinc/gold/silver Alchemist and Rainbow deposits, which are only 16 kilometers from Flin Flon’s infrastructure, access to clean low-cost hydroelectric power and an experienced labour force.
The 6,000 hectares claim package covers a significant portion of the Baker Patton Felsic Complex, which is one of the largest and highly altered exposed packages of felsic volcanic rocks in the Flin Flon Greenstone Belt. Previous exploration activities, prior to the discovery of Rainbow and Alchemist, have discovered five other mineral deposits, three of which have seen some level of historic production.
Of the five historic deposits, the Pine Bay deposit is the largest and has a 212-meter vertical shaft with significant underground workings from previous exploration work.
The Alchemist Discovery
At the Pine Bay Project, it made the significant Alchemist Discovery in September, which is a new high-grade copper, zinc, gold and silver bearing deposit. The Alchemist deposit sits at the base of the interpreted growth fault corridor that hosts six other deposits, including the high-grade copper, gold, silver and zinc Rainbow deposit located roughly 1,420 meters to the east. The discovery also shows a minimum strike length of 140 meters and remains open for expansion in multiple directions.
“The Alchemist discovery supports the newly proposed VMS system which has evolved since the discovery of the Rainbow deposit in August 2020. The new discovery is proof of concept that the property has the potential to host multiple new discoveries, and future exploration will be exciting for Callinex shareholders,” JJ O’Donnell, exploration manager at Callinex, said in a press release.
The Alchemist shows a strike of at least 140m between intersections to date, currently defined to an extent of 500-800m below surface and open above, below and northerly.
By comparison, the Rainbow’s Orange zone has a strike of 140 meters. Deposits in the Flin Flon Greenstone Belt, like Rainbow, typically have a plunge extent on average between 5-to-8 times the strike of the deposit.
“The direct correlation is that in Flin Flon, within 2 kilometers of the base of the growth fault, there’s the Flin Flon, 777 and Callinan mines,” he said, adding that no one had previously looked within 2 kilometers of the growth fault at the Pine Bay Project, which is where the the Rainbow and Alchemist deposits were recently discovered and are so significant.
The Rainbow Discovery
As noted earlier, Callinex discovered the Rainbow deposit in August 2020, which it has actively been expanding since then.
Most recently, the company released initial results from its 2022 exploration campaign at the deposit, with highlights including:
- PBM-177 intersected 33.67m of 4.29% copper, 0.22 g/t gold, 4.63g/t silver and 0.31% zinc including 10.47m of 5.90% copper, 14.43m of 5% copper and 7m of 6.38% copper;
- PBM-178 extends the Yellow zone with 7.40m of 7.06% copper and infills the Orange zone with 8.45m of 6.18% copper;
- PBM-175 intersected 16m of 2.85% copper, 0.24 g/t gold; and
- PBM-176 expands the Orange and Yellow zones with 3.50m of 2.99% copper eq. and 3m of 1.96% copper eq.
“Additional drilling into the Rainbow horizons has further defined the three massive sulphide lenses with widths and grades similar to previous neighbor holes, suggesting good correlation within the mineralized horizons,” O’Donnell said.
Now the company has finished the necessary drilling to delineate Rainbow within the first 800 meters of surface ahead of publishing a maiden resource estimate, which Porterfield told The Market Herald Canada the company plans to publish in Q1 2023.
“The maiden resource estimate we plan on publishing is going to delineate Rainbow within the first 800 meters of surface and remains open at depth,” Porterfield said. “Grades to date have shown that Rainbow has the potential to be one of the highest-grade copper deposits in the world.”
Callinex had completed 33 holes totalling almost 20,000 meters of drilling at the deposit as part of its fully funded drilling campaign.
Since making the Rainbow discovery in 2020, the company has drilled 81 holes, including 19 wedges, for a total of 42,000 meters.
Meet the team
Max Porterfield, President, CEO and director
Max Porterfield has over 10 years of experience in natural resources and financial markets. He has previously worked with Gold Mining Inc, Uranium Energy Corp. and US Global Investors. Porterfield is a graduate of Texas Tech University with a bachelor’s degree in business administration.
Killian Ruby, chief financial officer
Killian Ruby is a chartered professional accountant and a former assurance partner at Wolrige Mahon LLP (now known as Baker Tilly Canada). Prior to that, Ruby worked as a senior manager with KPMG working mostly with public companies.
JJ O’Donnell, exploration manager and geologist
JJ O’Donnell has over 25 years of VMS exploration experience in Canada where he has held positions with Callinex, HudBay, Selwyn Chihong Mining and Granges. O’Donnell has been vital in the exploration and development of the world class Howard’s Pass Zinc Project, located in the Yukon.
Mike Muzylowski, geologist and advisor
Mike Muzylowski has been involved in the discovery of 12 VMS mines in the Flin Flon region. Discoveries include the Trout Lake mine, which was in operation between 1982 and 2012. Muzylowski received the 1988 PDAC Developer of the Year award and was a 2011 inductee into the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame.
The investment opportunity
As of November 4, 2022, the company has a market cap of C$33.55 million and share price of $2.25. At present there are a total of 14.91 million shares and 14.93 million shares outstanding.
Moving into the rest of the year, with only two months left until 2023, Porterfield said there is still lots to expect from the company, which should be enticing to investors. He said the company still has a backlog of drill results from its exploration campaigns at the Rainbow deposit in addition to the maiden resource estimate. Callinex will also have an updated resource estimate on the historic Pine Bay deposit that sits further along the growth fault to the east.
As such, because Callinex is delineating some new discoveries of some of the richest copper deposits in the world at a crucial time for the Flin Flon community, the company presents itself as a unique investment opportunity as the increase in electric vehicles continues to rise.
Putting it simply, as Callinex Mines continues to expand the Alchemist and Rainbow deposits, the company will only solidify itself as a game changer not only for the community of Flin Flon, but the copper sector as a whole.
FULL DISCLOSURE: This is a paid article produced by The Market Herald Canada
