The Project area is located at the northeast end of the Archaean Abitibi Sub-Province, comprising east-west trending volcanic and sedimentary “greenstone belts”. The volcanic-sedimentary belts are folded and faulted and typically have a steep dip, younging away from major intervening domes of intrusive rocks. Major, crustal-scale, east-trending fault zones are prominent in the Abitibi greenstone belt. In the Chibougamau area, a large layered mafic complex (the Lac Dore Complex or LDC) has been emplaced into the volcaniclastic stratigraphy.

The LDC is a stratiform intrusive complex composed primarily of (meta-) anorthosite with lesser amounts of gabbro, anorthositic gabbro, pyroxenite, dunite and harzburgite. The anorthosite represents 70–90% by volume of the lithologies present within the LDC. A younger granite emplaced in the centre of the LDC obscures the mafic lithologies in this area. The LDC stratigraphy comprises four zones (Allard, 1976):
• The lowermost anorthositic zone composed of anorthosite and gabbro
• The layered zone composed of bands of ferro-pyroxenite, magnetite-bearing gabbro, magnetitite (rock consisting of at least 90% magnetite) (containing titanium and vanadium) and anorthosite
• The granophyre zone (at the top) composed of soda-rich leuco-tonalite
• The border zone in contact with the surrounding sedimentary and volcanic rocks.

The Project area itself straddles the contact between the mafic magmatic rocks of the LDC to the south and sediments and mafic volcanics of the Roy Group to the north, into which the LDC is emplaced. Within the property, the volcanic stratigraphy of the Roy Group comprises predominantly basaltic to andesitic rocks of the Obatogamau Formation and Basalt, andesitic basalt, mafic to felsic volcaniclastic rock, dacite, rhyolite, banded iron formation, chert, and argillite of the Waconichi Formation. Both the LDC and Roy Group are crosscut by mafic to ultramafic sills and younger plutonic intrusions ranging from tonalites to carbonatites.

The Project area is largely underlain by anorthosites of the LDC, which grade into the iron-rich ultramafic units through a crude stratigraphy comprising (from base to top): anorthosite, gabbro, magnetite-gabbro, magnetitepyroxenite, magnetite-peridotite, magnetite-dunite and centimetre- scale magnetitite layers. The presence of magnetite is strongly associated with ultramafic units – although magnetite is locally observed within anorthosites, it occurs only as minor disseminations or veinlets within the anorthosites. The banded iron formation (BIF) of the Waconichi Formation is also notable in the project area, the LDC can be seen in contact with these BIFs, and in places, possibly assimilating them. This may have implications for the formation of the low-Ti magnetitites within the Project.

The upright regional folding has also affected the layered mafic-ultramafic rocks of LDC in the Mont Sorcier area, and the Project area represents the northern limb of the large east-west trending anticlinal LDC. The North Zone and South Zone represent the same stratigraphic unit that has been folded into kilometre-scale parasitic folds, with the North Zone representing the north- dipping limb of a smaller-scale anticlinal fold structure, and the South Zone representing the hinge zone of a syncline.

Magnetite mineralization at the Mont Sorcier Project shows several similarities to other magmatic vanadiferous titanomagnetite (VTM) or ilmenite deposits associated with layered mafic intrusive complexes, where repeated crystallisation and settling of magnetite leads to the formation of magnetite layers. Vanadium is compatible in the magnetite crystal structure and fractionates into magnetite. However, VTM mineralization at Mont Sorcier is unusual in several respects:
• It is associated with olivine-bearing ultramafic units, with remarkably primitive compositions; and
• The VTM is anomalously low in titanium, with TiO2 grades generally below 2%.

Two significant mineralized zones are found on the Property – the North Zone and the South Zone.

The North Zone is identifiable in the field and through airborne magnetics over a strike length of approximately 4 km. It appears to be between 100 m and 300 m in thickness, forming a roughly tabular body that strikes eastwest, is subvertical and extends to depths of at least 500 m based on drilling. The North Zone has been drilled over approximately 2.5 km of its strike length. Possible extensions to the North Zone could be found to the east, as well as down-dip.

The South Zone is identifiable over approximately 3 km strikes east-northeast to west-southwest and has been mapped in detail as well as being drilled over its entire strike length. It is thought to form a tight synclinal structure, with a shallow plunge to the west-southwest. It is 100–200 m thick and extends to at least ~300 m in depth in the western part of the deposit, shallowing towards the east. Although the total depth of mineralization has not been fully tested, it is not expected to continue to depths significantly deeper than currently defined. The South Zone has been cut by several small northeast-trending faults, one larger northeast-trending fault with a ~150 m dextral displacement and is also cut by a north-northeast trending dyke that is ~150 m thick.

Both the North Zone and South Zone appear to have formed from the crystallization of VTM triggered by assimilation of a carbonate-facies iron formation (the Lac Sauvage iron formation) by mafic magmas of the LDC. In both the North Zone and South Zone, magnetite is disseminated within ultramafic rocks (dunite, peridotite pyroxenite), and the ultramafic VTM-bearing lithologies are surrounded by mafic units (gabbro and anorthosite).

Magnetite mineralization at the Mont Sorcier Project shows several similarities to other magmatic VTM or ilmenite deposits associated with layered mafic intrusive complexes such as the Bushveld Complex (South Africa) or the Skaergard Intrusion (Greenland). In these and other layered complexes, as well as on the south-eastern margin of the LDC (the Blackrock Minerals Armitage deposit and the Vanadium Corp. Lac Dore deposit), VTM and ilmenite deposits typically form in the upper portions of the layered complexes and have been subdivided into ilmenite-dominant deposits (generally in massif-type anorthosites host rocks) and magnetite-dominant deposits (generally in layered intrusions within gabbroic host rocks – Gross, 1996).

Crystallization of magnetite is initiated when the evolving magma becomes sufficiently iron- enriched to form oxide minerals, and thereafter settling of magnetite crystals results in localized lowering of the magma density from ~2.7 to ~2.5. This creates an inverted density stratification, resulting in overturn of the magma and resulting magma mixing, thereby precipitating additional magnetite. The repetition of this process leads to the formation of several stratified layers of magnetite, often with sharp bases and gradational upper contacts. Because vanadium is compatible in the magnetite crystal structure, it fractionates into magnetite, thereby depleting the remaining magma of vanadium. This results in the lowermost magnetite-bearing units in layered complexes typically having the highest V2O5 values, with the vanadium content of the magnetite gradually decreasing upwards through the stratigraphy – lower layers can have V2O5 contents of up to 3%, while this drops to below 0.3% in the upper layers. Conversely, titanium is incompatible, and becomes more concentrated in the residual magma – hence the lower VTM layers have lower titanium contents (typically 7–12% TiO2) than upper layers (up to 20% TiO2), where ilmenite and even rutile may be observed.

Mont Sorcier is modelled to be mined using traditional truck and loader open pit mining methods, focusing on extraction of magnetite mineralized material and waste materials. During its life, two mining areas will be developed – a large open pit on the north side of the mine and a smaller pit to the south. The south mining area may operate up to four distinct open pits:
• South Main (the largest of the south area pits);
• South 1, 2 and 3 (relatively small pits to the east of the South Main pit).

The mine will need to support a processing plant with nominal output of 5 Mtpa of dry concentrate. The plant recovery will depend on quality of mineralized material and concentration of the primary mineral – magnetite. Based on an average magnetite concentration in the mineralized material, it is expected the pits will deliver up to 15 Mtpa of mineralized material on average. The waste mining will be on average at about 13 Mtpa, with the maximum currently predicted not to exceed 45 Mtpa. This combined with relatively low waste to mineralized material strip ratio, would allow for bulk mining of both waste and mineralized material.

The material is mostly fresh and therefore drilling and blasting will need to sufficiently fragment the rock to allow for efficient loading and hauling of rock from the pits. The near vertical dip of the mineralization is in favour of a simple bulk mining operation. It is expected that the dilution and mineralized material loss during blasting and loading will be minimal.

The scheduling has produced a 15-year schedule for the South Zone and 33-year LOM plan for the North Zone. The combined schedule ended up being a 37-year long plan.

While the mining from the individual zones conformed to the mining limits imposed, the combined schedule has a peak demand between and including periods 6 to 11, of above 35 Mtpa. This can be smoothed further by a more aggressive pre-stripping in the first five years of the plan, or by deferring some waste mining to years after the period 11 (where possible, but this may affect mineralized material delivery rates later in the mine life). Average annual total material mined (TMM) over the first 15 years is about 30 Mtpa.

After the South Zone is exhausted, the North Zone is already sufficiently stripped of waste that the TMM is manageable under the notional 35 Mtpa limit. The drop in concentrate production between years 28 and 33 suggest more stripping would be required to fill that gap. Alternatively, some build-up of ROM stockpile in the years 15 to 21 may help to cover for such a shortfall in later periods. A trade-off between stockpiling early or extra mining capacity later could be considered.

Mine production fleet would consist of two large excavators and a wheel loader, waste and mineralized material hauling would require up to 14 large haul trucks.

Pit Design
Pit optimization has applied only inter-ramp angles (IRAs) of 52°, suggesting a smooth wall from the top of the pit crest to the toe of the pit. It is a normal practice to create horizontal ledges – catch berms, or bench berms – to arrest any loose rock that may otherwise gain great momentum during an almost free fall. The catch berms are inserted at each mining bench, or where the geotechnical parameters permit, at double or triple bench intervals (in our case – bench height being 10 m).

Option 1 was selected, employing bench face angle (BFA) of 75°, bench (berm) width of 10.3 m and final wall bench height of 20 m. Bench width of 10 m is sufficient for a smaller dozer or an auxiliary excavator to clean-up debris and maintain sufficient berm width to capture any falling loose rock. Considering the harsh winter climate, ice expanding the cracks overnight with thawing during the day, may cause many rocks to dislodge and fill up the catch berm.

The second important parameter is ramp width, currently at 33 m wide for dual lanes allowing sufficient vehicle clearance and narrowing near the pit bottoms to a single lane. The impact of haul roads on flattening of pit walls is difficult to predict and estimate in the early stages of project development such as at PEA level. The impact of ramps and geotechnical berms can be better incorporated into pit optimisation in later stages of the study – such as prefeasibility study and feasibility study.

The Mont Sorcier mining area requires the operation of five pits, two relatively large: North and South and three much smaller pits to the east of the main South pit.

The North Zone pit reaches the lowest level of 40 m (above sea level) using the full haul ramp width of 33 m. The main reason for allowing the full ramp width all the way to the bottom, is the width of the deposit at the pit bottom. The pit is almost 160 m wide. The pit crest is almost 5 km in length and the total area of the crest covers 126 ha. The pit crest elevation varies from just below 410 m to almost 550 m above sea level. The elevation of Lake Chibougamau is about 378 m above sea level for comparison.

The South Zone pit is subdivided into two sections, one reaching the lowest level at 110 m above sea level and the second at 130 m above sea level. Due to the presence of the lake,
the ramps were placed on the north side of the pit, flattening the overall slope to between 39° and 42.7° due to a number of ramp switchbacks. The western sub-pit is utilizing 15 m-wide ramps for the last 50 m vertical (at the bottom of the pit), then changing to full 33 m wide ramp. The eastern sub-pit has a 15 m-wide ramp for the last 30 m vertical (at the bottom of the pit), changing to full 33 m thereafter. The pit crest is also almost 5 km long and enclosing an area of 90 ha.

There are a further three small pits to the east of the main South pit. The pit optimization, using 52° slopes, combined with small block size (10 x 10 x 10 m3 ), made it possible to include these as viable pitshells. The follow-up study should look at possible connection between the pits. Should it be possible to combine them into one or two, then it may be possible to mine them more efficiently. The current design relies on pit ramps of just 6 m and 12 m wide, which is not suitable for the large mining fleet selected. The pits can be excavated using smaller articulated dump trucks such as CAT 745 and a suitable excavator, perhaps towards the end of the Project’s life. Should such equipment be available for the tailings storage construction, the pits can be excavated when the demand for the small fleet is low.

Waste and Tailings Storage Capacity
Calculation of required storage capacities is based on simplified parameters, as follows:
- The waste-to-mineralized material ratio within the designed pits to be 1:1 (tonnage based);
- The rehabilitated waste dump slopes to be below 20° (1:3 slope);
- Maximum dump height not to exceed 100 m above the original topography;
- Waste material, when transported to the waste dump, would have 25% swell factor applied;
- The density of tails deposited to TSF would be at 1.6 t/m3;
- The TSF dam height to be 30 m maximum;
- South Main pit can be filled with tails to the level of the lake – 378 m above sea level;
- 67% of mineralized material will be stored in the TSF, 33% shipped as concentrate.

CRUSHING
The ROM mineralized material is hauled to the primary crushing area, where the trucks discharge directly (or from a crushing area feed stockpile by the means of front-end loader) into a hopper. The hopper discharges to the primary jaw crusher via a vibrating feeder. The crushed product is transported by conveyor to the secondary crushing area and into a cone crusher, which operates in a closed loop with a dry vibrating screening system. The screen oversize reports back to the cone crusher, while the screen undersize is conveyed to a crushed feed stockpile.

Auxiliary equipment like dust collectors, pneumatic rock breakers, overhead cranes and monorails will support the operation and maintenance of the primary and secondary crushers and related equipment.

GRINDING
The crushed mineralized material is transferred from the crushed stockpile by apron feeders onto the crushed stockpile conveyor. The latter reports to the feed bin of the primary grinding unit comprising high pressure grinding rolls (HPGR). The discharge from each HPGR feeds a wet vibrating screening system working in a closed loop with the HPGR. The screens oversize reports back to the HPGR, while the screens undersize reports to the first stage of magnetic separation – the cobber LIMS units. The cobber non-magnetic product reports to the tailings thickener via tailings cyclones, while the cobber magnetic product reports to the classification cyclones.

The classification cyclones’ undersize reports to a secondary grinding process comprising two ball mills units operating in parallel, and the ball mills’ product reports to the rougher LIMS area.

The processing facilities include a beneficiation plant (Concentrator), designed to produce 5.0 Mtpa of magnetite concentrate over a 37-year mine life. The run of mine (ROM) material is based on a magnetite plant weight recovery of 45%.

The concentrator operates on a 365 days per year, 24 hours per day schedule with 80% crusher plant equipment utilization and 90% main concentrator area equipment utilization. Concentrator feed is assumed to be 97% solid, including 3% of moisture content.

The process is divided into the following areas:
- Crushing area;
- Grinding and magnetic separation area;
- Concentrate dewatering and handling area;
- Reagents area;
- Tailings thickening area;
- Utilities and services area.

The crushed mineralized material is transferred from the crushed stockpile by apron feeders onto the crushed stockpile conveyor. The later reports to the feed bin of the primary grinding unit comprising high pressure g ........