The Elder property is located in the southern part of the Abitibi subprovince, composed of volcanic rocks with zones of clastic sediments. The volcanic and sedimentary rock units are of Archean age and form alternating bands that generally run in an east to westerly direction. The Archean rocks of the Abitibi belt are cut by numerous post-metamorphic diabase dykes of Proterozoic age having variable widths (5 to 50 metres), they may be found as dyke swarms sometimes with extensions up to 100 km. Directions of these dykes vary from N-S to NE-SW with a sub-vertical dip. One of these dykes crosses the Elder property approximately 200 metres west of shaft No. 1.

The Elder gold deposit occurs within the south-eastern margin of the Flavrian Batholith. In the western part of the Elder mine, gold is mainly associated with the No. 1 vein where mineralization is found above, within and under an altered dioritic dyke, referred to as the "basic dyke" in the mine’s terminology, that cross-cuts the Flavrian Batholith at low angle. The basic dyke is extensive and it can reach widths along strike of up to 10 metres, although locally it is discontinuous and narrow. Between 1947 and 1966, most of the 2,024,420 tonnes of ore grading 5.33 g/t Au were mined from the No. 1 vein, outside of the basic dyke area.

The No. 1 vein strikes N 60° E at surface and about N 80° E on the 13th level and dips southward at an average angle of 25°. This is the dominant structural trend of th ........

Elder is an underground gold mine which is serviced to a depth of 794 meters (2,606 feet) by two shafts and several drifts on 16 levels.

Shaft #1 is used for the ventilation of the mine and as an escape way. Shaft #2 is used for production. The distance between levels varies between 41 and 61 meters. Drifts (2.7 m x 2.8 m) give access to the mineralized zone. Then, drifts follow the zone to give access to stopping sites. On levels 3, 4 and 6, drifts will follow the mineralization over a distance of 240 meters.

Veins generally have a dip angle of 22o and a 2-meter thickness.

Mining is done with the room and pillar method. The roof and part of the walls are secured with rock bolts and screen. With this method of mining, about 15% of the resources are left in pillars. Part of these pillars will be recovered at the end of the mine.

The width of rooms and the size of pillars were determined by a geotechnical study done by Golder Associates in 1986 and by an inspection in 2014.

A stope team is made up of two drillers, 2 scrapping operators and one mucker.

The monthly rate of production of Elder is about 8 000 to 11,000 tonnes. Our objective is to get 12,500 tonnes per month. The life of the mine, based on the existing measured and indicated resources, is 4.25 years. The eventual conversion of inferred resources into measured and indicated resources would add about 3.5 years for a total of 7.75 years. Several explor ........

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