The BlackRock Metals deposit is an Fe-Ti-V oxide deposit associated with a mafic layered intrusion. It is located in the Lac Doré mafic layered intrusion located approximately 20 km south of Chibougama, at the southeast end of the Abitibi subprovince of the Superior geological province. The genesis of this deposit type is related to processes of fractional crystallization where layers rich in oxides (especially Fe and Ti) settle out by magmatic segregation in large mafic intrusions.

The Lac Doré complex stretches northeast to southwest over a distance of about 24 km, with BlackRock Metals holding the rights to about 17 km. It is deformed by a large anticline and metamorphosed to the schist facies, as are the volcanic rocks that host it. The mineralized zone consists of gabbro rich in magnetite ilmenite (vanadiumferrogabbros) rhythmically layered with anorthosite beds.

Two main mineralized zones have been identified on the BlackRock Metals property: the Southwest Zone and the Armitage Zone, which cover 2.5 km and 3.3 km sections of vanadium-bearing ferrogabbro horizons, respectively. BlackRock Metals’ current development efforts are focused on the Southwest Zone.

The oxide-rich layers of the Southwest Zone have been exposed in multiple trenches on surface and intersected in more than 60 diamond drill holes. The resulting mineralized envelope characterized by BlackRock Metals ranges in thickness from some 100 to 300 m. The geological sections are oriented at N130° and are 200 m apart in the southwest area (Sections 100 to 1400) and 100 m apart in the northeast area (Sections 1600 to 2600). On section, the holes generally dip 45° and strike N310°, with two holes per section in the southwest area and three holes per section in the northeast area. The stratification is characterized by an average dip of 75° (60° to 90°) and a N130° strike.

As the deposit outcrops on surface, the ore will be mined by open pit. The pit will be oval and elongated in shape, about 2.8 kilometres long by a maximum of 450 m wide and about 280 m deep. The surface of the pit will therefore cover about 1.26 km2 . The roads in the pit will be 34 metres wide to allow the 220-tonne trucks to pass each other safely. The roads will have a maximum slope of 10%. Vehicles will exit the pit to the southwest, near the facilities.

At full capacity, BlackRock Metals plans to mine about 12.4 Mt of ore per year to produce 3 Mt of concentrate per year. At the end of operations, 152 Mt of ore, 264 Mt of waste rock and 7.6 Mt of overburden will have been extracted to produce 38 Mt of concentrate.

The ore will be hauled from the pit to the primary crusher by 220-tonne dump trucks. The crusher will be located in the building closest to the pit to minimize haulage distance, in a place where it can be safely operated. The primary crusher will operate 65% of the time. It will be a 1.52 m x 2.26 m gyratory crusher that can crush up to 4,670 tph. The ore exiting the gyratory crusher will be less than 300 mm in diameter, and will be fed by a 4,700-tph capacity conveyor to the secondary, 1,300 hp cone crusher. Lateral guides will seal the chute from the crusher to the conveyor to prevent fine particles from escaping and causing dust in the building, which is nevertheless equipped with a dust collector. In addition, the floors in the primary crusher building will be cleaned with water, and the sludge produced will flow to a low point (located in the basement) where the water will be pumped outdoors, into tanker trucks if needed, and sent to the tailings pond, as it will have been in contact with the ore. Water collected in the French drains outside will flow into a ditch and then to Lac Denis.

The ore is screened before entering the cone crusher, and particles smaller than 50 mm will be sent directly to the ore stockpile. The coarse fraction from the screen will be crushed to 80% minus 50 mm. Once crushed, the ore will be stored in the ore stockpile, which will have a live capacity of 12.2 hours of plant production, with a volume of 8,972 m3. This ore stockpile will be covered with a dome, with sufficient inside space for equipment to enter, if required.

A conveyor washing system will be designed to keep the systems clean and efficient for the wet portion of the process, with the used water recirculated into the process. An air and scraper cleaning system will be used for the dry portion.

The ore will be reclaimed from the ore stockpile by three chain feeders and then transferred by conveyor to the 11 m x 5.25 m, 15,000 kW semi-autogenous grinding mill (SAG mill). The grinding mill will have a 1,543 tph ore capacity and a ball charge of about 12%. The portion of the grinding circuit located in the concentrator building marks the start of wet processing at an average density of 70% solids. At the outlet of the SAG mill, the ore will be screened (two stages) before being sent the first stage of magnetic separation. The concentrate obtained in this stage feeds hydrocyclones for physical separation of the particles. The coarse particles are returned to a ball mill while the fine particles are fed to the second stage of magnetic separation. The ball mill will be 6.4 m x 10.7 m and contain a 35% ball charge. The final product will be 80% minus 75 microns. This grinding mill can process up to 762 tph of ore, and will be used in closed circuit with a battery of 84-cm hydrocyclones.

After grinding (SAG and ball mill), the ore will be sent to the magnetic separation units. Separation will take place in two stages: primary with single-drum units and secondary with double drum units. The magnetic separation feed is wet, meaning that the ore is mixed with water to a ratio of 40% solids. The capacity of the primary unit will be 1,686 tph solids (3,375 tph pulp). The unit will consist of eight 1.2 m x 3.2 m cylinders. The non-magnetic tailings will be collected under the separators and will constitute the coarse tailings. The coarse tailings will be sent through hydrocyclones to remove the maximum amount of water before being sent outside the concentrator, where they will be piled before being trucked to the coarse tailings pile. The fines will be sent to the tailings thickener.

The fine fraction from the hydrocyclones used with the ball mill will be fed to the secondary magnetic separation stage. This section will consist of eight 1,2 m x 3,2 m double-drum units with a capacity to process 762 tph of solid ore, or the equivalent of 3,049 tph of pulp (water and ore). This stage will separate out the non-magnetic material, which will be sent to the tailings thickener, while the magnetic fraction recovered will be fed to the flotation cells. A flotation stage is required to meet the concentrate sulphur content criteria specified by the purchase contracts. The magnetite concentrate produced by the second stage of magnetic separation will therefore be fed through a flotation circuit consisting of six cells in series. Reagents will be added to the concentrate in the first cell. The concentrated flotation product, which will be the sulphide portion, will be sent to the tailings thickener.

The low-sulphur magnetite concentrate will be sent to a 27-m thickener located outside the plant, to be thickened to 65 to 75% solids.

The thickened concentrate is then sent to filtration to be filtered by drum filters to a moisture content of 8.5%. An additional steam drying stage may be added if needed to reduce the moisture content to 5.5% when required (on cold winter days, for example).

Once the material has been filtered, it will be transported by conveyor to the rail cars. The concentrate feed can be up to 6,000 tph. There will be an emergency ore storage area that can be used in case there are any problems with the train. Once the final concentrate has finished the filtration stage, it is sent outside the concentrator into a storage bin of about 10,000 tonnes, equivalent to about one day's production. When it is time to fill the rail cars, the concentrate is fed into a 400-tonne loading bin. This allows optimal filling of the cars to the recommended weight. There is an outdoor emergency storage area to allow for production risks such as fluctuations in concentrate production or mishaps in the loading/haulage cycle. If this space is used, a front-end loader will be needed to return the material to the storage bin. The concentrate will be first dumped into a hopper, from which it goes onto a conveyor, into the storage bin and then into the loading bin.