The Lac des Iles Mine property captures the known extents of two discrete intrusive complexes, including the South Lac des Iles Intrusive Complex (IC) comprising the former Mine block, South Lac des Iles and Camp Lake intrusions, and the North Lac des Iles Intrusive Complex (IC).

Intrusive contacts between the two complexes suggest that the southern part of the North Lac des Iles IC was younger than the northern margin of the South Lac des Iles IC.

The North Lac des Iles IC consists of layered ultramafic rocks distributed within two types of cyclic units, including an orthopyroxenebearing cyclic unit and an orthopyroxene-free cyclic unit. Historical surface prospecting, mapping, limited trenching and diamond drilling have identified several areas in the North Lac des Iles IC hosting PGE occurrences exceeding 1.0g/t of combined Pd+Pt+Au. These PGM occurrences are interpreted to represent stratiform or reef-type magmatic PGM mineralisation.

The South Lac des Iles IC was emplaced into predominantly intermediate composition orthogneiss basement rocks. Four major intrusive sequences (series) are recognised in the complex. Mapping and drilling have shown that the central-east part of the South Lac des Iles IC is an upright, homoclinal sequence (south-facing igneous stratigraphy) with a general north-easterly strike direction and steep southerly dips. In contrast, the major units in the western end of the complex that host most of the palladium miner ........

Mine production at Lac des Iles occurs from three areas: Surface Pit, Roby Zone, and the Offset Zone. These areas are broken down further by mining method, mineralisation zone and/or spatial location.

Most of the Roby Zone’s planned production involves sub-level caving (SLC) targeting ore below and southwest of the current dormant pit. Production from these near-surface zones will involve a gradual ramping up of the caving operations culminating in steady-state production in 2024. Ore tonnes from the Roby Zone are transported via haul truck through a ramp to the south portal.

Production from the Offset Zone includes production by the open hole stoping (OHS) and sub-level shrinkage (SLS) methods. The SLS production represents the bulk of the Offset Zone production. Production from each of the lower mine zones will remain relatively constant over the LoM. With the exception of the near-surface Sheriff South Zone, the ore is typically hoisted to the surface through the shaft.

Sub-Level Shrinkage (SLS) and Sub-Level Caving (SLC)
The SLC mining method and the modified version called SLS are modern, highly mechanized, high tonnage, low operating cost mining methods. Sub-level shrinkage is sub-level caving with waste rock added on top of the broken ore blanket to fill the air gap between the top of the cave and the ore blanket in zones where the rock will not cave reliably. The introduced backfill serves to provide some confinement to the cave w ........

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