The Joanna property (formerly the Hosco-Heva) is situated in Joannes Township in the south central portion of the Abitibi Greenstone Belt, within the Superior structural province of the Canadian Shield. All rocks are Archean in age except for the late crosscutting Proterozoic diabase dykes.

The gold deposit at Joanna may be described as a sediments hosted orogenic gold deposit related to the structural control of the Cadillac fault. Mineralization is mainly developed in the form of finely disseminated sulfides envelopes (pseudo lenses) with minor quartz veining in Cadillac Group sediments in contact with mafic layers corresponding possibly to sill. The main brittleductile deformation comprising the Cadillac Fault is concentrated in these metasedimentary layers. The genetics of the deposit has not been studied in detail. Historically, previous exploration was focused on quartz veins within the deformation and mineralization corridor where gold was present in higher grades.

Gold appears to be mainly associated with finely crystallized sulfides in a biotite rich schist with minor deformed millimetric to pluri-centimetric quartz veins. Mineral assemblage also includes variable concentrations of white mica, carbonate, albite, garnet, and possible other aluminosilicates. Amphibole and tourmaline rich replacement zones have been locally identified.

Mining Hosco ore will follow the standard practice of an open-pit operation with conventional drill and blast, load and haul cycle using drill/truck/shovel mining fleet. The overburden and waste rock material will be hauled to the overburden and waste disposal areas near the pit. The run-of-mine ore will be drilled, blasted and loaded by hydraulic shovels and delivered by trucks to the primary crusher or stockpiles near the crusher.

The process flowsheet would include gravity concentration, flotation concentration, intensive cyanidation of gravity concentrate in a Gekko inline reactor, and leaching of the flotation concentrate with and without pressure oxidation pre-treatment;