Two types of apatite-ilmenite occurrences (nelsonite and anorthositic gabbro) are present within the Lac a Paul Project. Both are magmatic in origin and form specific facies of the Lac Saint-Jean Anorthositic complex. Although these kinds of deposits are known to be associated with various anorthosite complexes around the world, none are currently being mined for their phosphate content. However, similar deposits with dominant ilmenite are currently mined at Lac Tio (Rio Tinto Iron Titanium, Havre St-Pierre, Québec) and Tellnes (Norsk Hydro, Norway). Numerous occurrences are currently under evaluation in the Province of Québec for their iron and titanium content.

Mineralization at the Lac a Paul Project originated from magmatic sedimentation and segregation within the anorthositic complex. The main geological unit of interest is a Nelsonite consisting of apatite and ilmenite magnetite rich layers.

Many apatite mineralized zones are reported within the Arianne’s Lac a Paul Project. Zones No.1 and No. 2 are low-grade apatite-ilmenite bearing gabbros discovered by the FMSLSJ and will only be discussed briefly. Only Zone No. 2 has been explored significantly with diamond drilling. Zone No 3 is no longer part of the land package; Arianne did not renew the claims due to the low grades encountered. Most of the other zones, i.e. Manouane, Paul, Nicole, Lucie, Lise, Intersection and La Traverse have been drilled, are considered nelsonites, and show a good poten ........

Conventional drill, blast, load and haul mining methods will be used for the pit. The equipment fleet was sized based on specific operating parameters of the mine and equipment, and from the haulage profiles. The primary loading and hauling equipment selected for the preproduction period is 1 x Komatsu PC2000 diesel hydraulic shovels with 4 x HD785 haul trucks. These pieces of equipment are kept after preproduction in order to support the production tonnages being mined by the larger equipment.

The mine life is 25.75 years (excluding the 18 months allocated for preproduction). The mine plan is based on the assumption that the mill requires a throughput of 55ktpd ROM, operating at a 93% availability (of 365 days). The yearly ore tonnes mined satisfy the yearly requirement of the mill.

The annual mine plan for the Lac a Paul FS is scheduled based on the production of 472.09 million tonnes Run-of-Mine (ROM), 527.31 million tonnes of waste rock and 9.06 million tonnes of overburden material. The average P2O5 grade is 6.88% Life-of-Mine (LOM), reported at a Cut-off Grade of 3.5% P2O5, after an applied dilution of 2% and an ore loss of 3%. Four phases were designed based on the optimized pit shells. These phases were sequenced in order to maintain low stripping ratios (SRs) and high P2O5 grades during the early phases.

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