Golden Hope scores in Bellechasse

By Kevin Michael Grace and Ted Niles

Perhaps Quebec should change its nickname from “La belle province” to “La province d’or.” First there was a gold rush to the northwest Abitibi region, near the Ontario border. Now there is another rush, this time to the southeast Beauce region, near the Maine border. And this development is entirely fitting, reckons Frank Candido, President of Golden Hope Mines Ltd. (GNH:CA)

“Bellechasse-Timmins is the site of the first Canadian gold rush,” Candido points out. Placer miners flocked to the region in 1863 and found two of the largest gold nuggets in Canadian history: the Kilgour (52 ounces) and the McDonald (45 ounces). But in the 150 years since then, the region has seen little but asbestos mining. “Not until Golden Hope started spending substantial money has there been interest in the area.”

There’s certainly no shortage of interest now. Companies exploring the Beauce today include Osisko Mining (OSK:CA), Fancamp Exploration (FNC:CA), NioGold Mining (NOX:CA), Midland Exploration (MD:CA), Uragold Bay Resources (UBR:CA), VVC Exploration (VVC:CA), Nevado Resources (VDO:CA) and GWR Resources (GWQ:CA).

Golden Hope released highly-encouraging assay results September 22. These include 3.68 g/t over 34 metres, including 103 g/t over 1 metre, from Hole 117 in the T1 zone; 7.19 g/t over 10 metres, including 69.5 g/t over 1 metre, from Hole 115 in the T2A zone; and 1.35 g/t over 9 metres from Hole 98 in the Ascot-Road zone.

A 2009-2010 geochemical survey suggested there were three large areas within a 20-kilometre ring similar to Bellechasse-Timmins. Considering this and his assays, Candido is expansive. “We believe that what we have now is not just a deposit but an entire belt,” he declares. “Where we’re drilling represents less than 5% of that belt – it’s probably around 1%. We have a nuggety deposit. By that, we know for a fact, that no matter what the assay results are, the average grade will forever be around 2 grams. When we did an 800-tonne bulk sample this year, we came out with an average grade of 3 grams. The grade is probably even better than that — between 3 and 4 grams. Diamond drilling will always underestimate the grade.”

Golden Hope believes it could be on the verge of proving the biggest gold deposit in recent Canadian history. “The name of the game for us is tonnage,” Candido concludes. “And we think that we have 100 million tonnes within our reach: just in the small, 1 percent area in which we’re working. One hundred million tonnes represents a significant deposit of anywhere between 5 and 10 million ounces. So we’re very excited. And we’re in southeastern Quebec!”