Foothills
On February 7, 2024, NioBay signed a definitive option agreement with Vior Inc. to acquire an undivided 80% interest in Vior’s Foothills Project, On February 7, 2024, with strong potential for the discovery of critical and strategic metals. It covers most of the contact of the intrusive zone known as the St. Urbain anorthosite. Samples with a high phosphate content, an element newly added to Quebec’s list of critical and strategic metals, were taken at the site in the summer of 2023.
Characteristics
The Project covers an area of approximately 285km2 and is comprised of 5 separate claims blocks. It covers most of the contact of the intrusive zone known as the St. Urbain anorthosite. This zone has demonstrated the presence of rutile-ilmenite with results up to 57% of titanium dioxide (TiO2), as well as apatite (Note: Vior referred to as phosphate). Of 139 outcrop samples collected, 67 contain P2O5 values of 4.0 to 6.3%, and boulder samples reveal some historic higher-grade mineralization of over 10% P2O5 (Sigeom, QC). The aim of this project is clear: to find a homogeneous zone, supported by a resource calculation, and thus prove the mineral potential of this sector.
The Saint-Urbain mines: 300 years of history
The ilmenite deposits of Saint-Urbain have been known at least since the beginning of colonization. As early as 1665, Jean Talon, Intendant of New France, commissioned a certain Cailhaut de la Tesserie (later Seigneur de la Chevrotière, aka Deschambault) to explore the Vallée du Gouffre.
Although the Geological Survey of Canada took an interest in the Saint-Urbain iron mines in 1849 and 1863, it wasn’t until 1872 that the Canadian Titanic Iron Company began mining the Furnace mine to supply the blast furnaces built some 1 km to the east. Three pits would operate on the company’s claim, all linked to the metallurgical complex by the mine road. But the Canadian Titanic Iron adventure came to an abrupt end in 1874 with the company’s bankruptcy.
The St. Urbain mines were revived between 1906 and 1914. A new company, Baie St. Paul Titanic Iron, was founded in 1908. The J. Bouchard and General Electric mines came on stream around 1911. World War I broke out in 1914, however, and people’s preoccupations turned to Europe, slowing interest in small mines far from industrial centres.
The period 1920-1945 still saw some mining activity, but it was sporadic. In 1924, Baie St. Paul Titanic Iron was still active, shipping ore to the Titanium Alloys Co. in Niagara Falls. The General Electric mine was also still in operation, and several tons were extracted in 1941. The Coulombe mine began operations at this time. The DuPont company was also interested in the ilmenite of Saint-Urbain and was active in the thirties. Mining continued during the 1939-1945 war, and the men working there were exempted from military service, as their work was considered essential to the war effort. During this period, approximately 20,000 tonnes of ilmenite were extracted and shipped to Niagara Falls.
Another revival of the Saint-Urbain iron mines began in the late 1950s with the creation of Continental Titanium Corporation. This company was active from 1957 to 1965, and built a laboratory to ensure ore quality control.
In 1970, the Société québécoise d’exploration minière (SOQUEM) carried out exploration work at Saint-Urbain, without much success. In spring 2015, Vior launched a geophysical prospecting campaign to clarify the mineral potential, hoping to find an economically viable deposit.
In February 2024, NioBay Metals Inc. signed an option agreement to acquire all of Vior’s mining claims on the Foothills project. The objective is twofold: to locate an economically valuable rutile deposit and, at the same time, to determine the value of the phosphate found in the area.
Rutile Market outlook (2022-2032)
Rutile is the most common natural form of titanium dioxide (TiO2). The global rutile market in 2021 was valued at approximately US$ 3.9 billion. The market is forecasted to register a 5.2% annual market growth during the period from 2022 to 2032.
In mid-2023, Titanium Dioxide 98% CFR USGC prices were settled at USD $2,500 per ton.
Credit: Géoparc de Charlevoix
Canadian Titanic Iron Company blast furnaces at Saint-Urbain, circa 1873. The two blast furnaces are 4 ft. high, 13 ft. in diameter at the base and 9 ft. in diameter at the top. Further back, you can see the beehive furnaces. The Furnace mine is in the background, high on the mountain.
Miners at the Furnace Mine, circa 1873
Geology and Mineralization
Here is the distribution of TiO2 grade contents. Mineralized samples, dominantly representing massive ilmenite, mostly grades between 30% and 45%, suggestive the mineralization is made of hemoilmenite. Lower grade samples are seldom, representing the few layers of ilmenite gabbro or anorthosite. Samples below 2.5% TiO2 are witness of unmineralized host anorthosite.
2020 DRILLING PROGRAM ON FOOTHILLS PROJECT, CHARLEVOIX
