Vanstar Mining Resources is a Quebec-focused low-risk, exploration play

• Nelligan is recognized as ‘world-class’ discovery and it is growing
• Project has been advanced from grassroots stage to resource in just three years
• Four major gold zones established at Nelligan – Renard, Liam, Dan and 36

What Vanstar Mining does:

Vanstar Mining Resources Inc (CVE:VSR) was founded in 2008 and is a northern-Quebec-focused gold explorer with projects at various stages of development.

The company’s flagship asset is its 25% ownership of the advanced Nelligan project, which won the ‘Discovery of the Year’ award at the 2019 Quebec Mineral Exploration Association XPLOR Gala. In the same year, a resource estimate showed 3.2 million of inferred ounces of the yellow metal at a grade of 1.02 grams per ton (g/t) gold.

Mining major IAMGOLD is the company’s partner and operator at Nelligan and owns 75% of the near 6,000 hecetare project and can earn 80% by funding and publishing a feasibility study. 

The larger firm is funding the project’s development to production and Vanstar would retain a 20% carried interest until the start of commercial output and a 1% net smelter returns royalty (NSR) on the eight original project claims. Nelligan is open along strike to the west and at depth.

Vanstar also owns 100% of four further exploration projects. Its Felix project spans 69 claims over 3,359 hectares and sits in the famous Abitibi greenstone belt. Previous drill results include nine samples of 1.5 metres (m) which were assayed and returned between 0.9 to 1.5 g/.t gold over 70m.  A 3,000m drilling program is currently in progress.

The Amanda project comprises 145 claims over 7,677 hectares and it lies 275 kilometres (km) northwest of Chibougamau. In 2020. four new gold showings were discovered up to 1.8 grams per ton (g/t) in mineralized sediments. Five known gold showings associated with iron lie at the property.

The Frida property consists of 45 mining claims and is subject to no NSR royalty, while the company’s Eva property is found in the James Bay area, northern Québec. The Matagami-Radisson road runs 30 km west of the Frida and Eva assets and summer access is via a jetty at the northern end of Sakami Lake at Km 56 on the Trans-Taïga gravel road, which sits 30 km north of the property.

Vanstar Mining also trades on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the symbol 1V8 and on the US OTC market under VMNGF. Its market cap is around C$57 million and the company has around C$5.8 million in the bank.

How is it doing:

In a shareholder update on February 18 this year, Vanstar Mining outlined a busy exploration year ahead.

At Nelligan, following 7,600m of diamond drilling in 2020 that successfully extended mineralization to the west by around 700m, IAMGOLD is planning a program of around 10,000m of follow up diamond drilling for 2021.

The aim is mainly to continue to step-out along strike of the Renard Zone in a bid to expand the resource, and, if positive, this work could support an updated resource in the second half of 2021. Also, at Nelligan, an induced polarization (IP) survey is currently in progress, which will help identify potential target areas for exploration.

Elsewhere, at Felix, a 3,000m program is underway to verify gold mineralization identified in a historic hole. The drilling is also due to test four airborne electromagnetic conductors.

Elsewhere, Vanstar said high resolution airborne electromagnetic surveys are planned for its Amanda, Frida, and Eva properties, which should be completed in March/April.

This will be augmented with geological mapping, prospecting, and sampling to be undertaken this summer, it added.

The company has said it is in a position to make further acquisitions, if and when, suitable opportunities arise.

Inflection points:

• Nelligan drilling news from IAMGOLD
• Exploration news from Vanstar’s other projects
• Gold price moves

What the boss says:

In March 2021, Vanstar Mining chief executive JC St-Amour spoke to Proactive’s Christine Corrado.

He said: “I think Vanstar’s a great company … the way I see it, it’s a low risk, exploration play. Nelligan has been largely de-risked. It’s being advanced by IAMGOLD and it basically supplies most of the value in the company right now and so any exploration upside we get would be in addition to that. I would expect good results from exploration to be reflective in the stock.”

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Story by ProactiveInvestors