Date: 3/9/2010 Last Trade: 0.34 Time: 3:57pm EST Open: 0.355 High: 0.36 Low: 0.34 Change: 0.00 Volume: 115566
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The Goldbrook Story

The Raglan District in northern Quebec is one of the most prospective areas in Canada for the discovery of nickel, copper, cobalt and platinum group metal (PGM) deposits. The district occurs within the same belt of ancient rocks that host the prolific Thompson nickel deposits in Manitoba. The Raglan (or Cape Smith) belt is approximately 325 kilometers long by 60 kilometers wide and hosts Xstrata’s Raglan nickel-copper-PGM mine which began commercial production in 1998. Its development has led to extensive infrastructure improvements and the area is now more easily accessible thanks to improved port facilities, a network of roads and daily air service to nearby communities. In 2008 the mine produced over 26,000 tonnes of nickel-in-concentrate, over 6,700 tonnes copper-in-concentrate and 523 tonnes of cobalt-in-concentrate, with significant quantities of palladium and platinum. The mine accounts for approximately 10% of Canadian annual nickel production and has about 30 years mine life.

 

Inside the Goldbrook camp

Recognizing the potential of the Raglan region in 2003, Goldbrook management initiated an aggressive acquisition and joint venture program. As a result, the company is now the largest landholder in the Raglan region (approximately 891,000 acres).

Raglan is an emerging Ni-Cu-PGE district at an early stage of exploration and development and consists of at least two mineralized trends. The combination of the high value Raglan deposits found to-date and low exploration maturity of the region, makes the Raglan belt a very attractive exploration area. The Xstrata deposits occur as multiple ore bodies scattered along a 55 km section of a laterally extensive geological trend known as the “Raglan trend” or north trend. Early discoveries in 2003 by Goldbrook and Anglo American indicated that significant mineralization may also be found on this trend as far as 45 and 90 kilometers east and west of the Xstrata deposits respectively. Knight Resources announced other Nickel discoveries along the north trend in 2008. Similarly, discoveries by Canadian Royalties Inc have helped establish the potential of a second trend (the ‘south trend’) by the discovery of a series of deposits that have been subjected to feasibility studies which confirm the economic viability of a stand-alone mining and milling operation.  

Goldbrook’s landholdings toward the eastern portion of the Cape Smith Belt, comprising the Wakeham and Ungava properties, cover key positions along potential extensions of the north and south mineralized trends. Goldbrook is using a multi-disciplinary approach to explore these vast landholdings including airborne remote sensing surveys, prospecting, geological mapping, geochemistry and diamond drilling in addition to airborne and ground geophysical surveys to help detect potential nickel-bearing rocks.

Goldbrook employees from the local communities

During the summer of 2008 Goldbrook Ventures Inc. pursued strong strategic alliances, and on August 29 the Company entered into an option and joint venture agreement with Jilin Jien Nickel Industry Co, of Panshi, Jilin of China. The venture covers exploration and development of Goldbrook’s Raglan District Properties.

Pursuant to the Agreement:

  • Jien may earn a 50% interest in the Property by providing funding of $45 million over three years for exploration on the property (plus any funds rebated by the government for expenditures during the first two years).
  • Upon Jien acquiring a 50% interest, any government rebate from exploration expenditures in the third year will be applied to a fourth year work program and other costs will be funded 50% by Jien and 50% by Goldbrook.     
  • Jien may earn an additional 10% interest by funding and completing a pre-feasibility study.  Jien may earn an additional 10% interest by funding and completing a bankable feasibility study. Jien may earn an additional 5% interest by providing Goldbrook its share of financing for development on commercial terms in which case Goldbrook will repay its share of the debt from a portion of the net cash flow from production. 

An official signing ceremony took place in Beijing, China on Friday, November 14th between Goldbrook Ventures and Jilin Jien Nickel Industry Co., Ltd. to celebrate their option joint venture agreement of August 2008 (see press release August 29, 2008) regarding exploration and development of Goldbrook’s Raglan Belt Ni-Cu-PGE properties in northern Quebec. Numerous dignitaries of the Jilin Province and Jien Nickel Industry Co, as well as senior staff from the Chinese, National Democratic Reform Commission, the Canadian Embassy in Beijing, executives of Goldbrook Ventures Inc. and British Columbia and Quebec government dignitaries took part

Signing ceremony of option joint venture agreement with Jilin Jien Nickel Industry Co., Ltd and Goldbrook Ventures Inc., in Beijing, China

Exploration programs from 2003 through 2008 have established Ni-Cu-PGE sulphide targets, along the Belanger and related trends, as part of the longer term exploration objectives of the company. Currently Goldbrook has defined significant sulphide mineralization at the Mystery, Getty, Sylvie, Timtu and PAD-1/R2 occurrences and will continue to explore and enhance these targets.

Goldbrook’s most important discovery to date is the Mystery Zone which was drilled extensively in 2008. Thirty-five (35) holes totaling 8,162 metres were drilled along a strike length of about 600 metres. Drilling at Mystery suggests a vertical to steeply dipping, mineralized zone varying in thickness from about 10 to 60 m thickness along a strike length of over 150 metres. It has been drill tested to a vertical depth of over 300 metres (see news releases Sept. 3rd, Sept.15th, Oct. 19th, Nov. 3rd).

Significant Ni-Cu-PGE Sulphide intersections were encountered at Mystery, with highlights as follows:

DDH MYS08-003 intersected 131 metres of 0.81% Ni, 0.87% Cu and 3.01g/t PGE+Au.
DDH MYS08-006 intersected 73.1 metres of 0.72% Ni, 0.99% Cu and 3.25g/t PGE+Au
DDH MYS08-005 intersected 4 metres of 0.64% Ni, 3.11% Cu and 41.29 g/t PGE+Au
DDH MYS08-012 intersected 102.0 metres of 0.72% Ni, 1.00% Cu and 3.03 g/t PGE+Au
DDH MYS08-011 intersected 27.6 metres of 0.70% Ni, 1.09% Cu and 3.42g/t PGE+Au
DDH MYS08-018 intersected 20 metres of 0.66% Ni, 0.87% Cu and 2.36 g/t PGE+Au
DDH MYS08-029 intersected 50.0 metres of 0.69% Ni, 0.94% Cu and 2.12 g/t PGE+Au
DDH MYS08-031 intersected 76.3 metres of 0.91% Ni, 1.11% Cu and 2.94 g/t PGE+Au

Massive sulphide interval from 2008 drill program

Continued drilling of the Mystery zone to better define the extent of the sulphide mineralization is a high priority for the 2009 drilling season along with other target areas in the Belanger and related trends.

The Getty and Sylvie zones are located about 10 km east of Mystery. Some significant intersections for Getty and Sylvie zones are:

DDH GET07-012 intersected 15.5 metres of 1.27% Ni, 0.53% Cu, 1.680g/t PGE+Au at the Getty Zone, and
DDH SYL07-023 intersected 18.5 metres of 1.41% Ni, 0.67% Cu, 3.232g/t PGE+Au at the Sylvie Zone.

Goldbrook Ventures is well positioned for a successful exploration year, with the largest landholding position in the belt, its multiple exploration targets and its strong partnership.

The Way Forward

Goldbrook’s extensive landholdings are located in an under-explored poly-metallic belt that already hosts a world-class nickel mine (the Raglan Mine). Exploration in the district is at an early stage. Nickel is currently undervalued at a 5 year low. With Nickel resources limited to very specific geological belts, the metal is bound to appreciate significantly in the coming years with increasing demand and metal consumption.  China and India’s appetites for nickel and related metals and the current lack of quality nickel sulphide projects and deposits slated for development worldwide indicate a positive outlook for nickel and related metals into the future. Goldbrook is well positioned for the creation of shareholder value via discovery and development of the nickel-copper-PGE deposits on its landholdings.

 

Aerial view of the Belanger camp