The Bachelor-Desmaraisville Property is situated near the western limit of the Chibougamau-Chapais Greenstone Belt (CCGB). The following description is taken from Darling and Lafontaine (2011).

The mafic to felsic volcanic and volcanoclastic rocks of the Bachelor Lake area are part of the basal mafic dominated sequence referred to as the Volcanic Cycle I (Mueller et al., 1989). The Volcanic Cycle I formed between 2,730 Ma and 2,720 Ma (Mortensen, 1993), and is composed of massive, pillowed, and brecciated, tholeiitic basalt flows with local felsic and sedimentary units. The NVZ of the Abitibi Subprovince is interpreted as a diffuse arc passing laterally into a back-arc environment with numerous felsic and mafic-felsic edifices (Chown et al., 1992) and intra-arc sedimentary basins (Mueller et al., 1996).

The Bachelor-Desmaraisville Property is underlain by Archean volcanic rocks of the Obatogamau Formation in a poorly known and relatively poorly explored area of the AGB. Based on the absence of marker horizons and the paucity of outcrops, it is difficult to establish a well-defined rock sequence in the Coniagas-Bachelor Lake area (Doucet et al., 1998). The Obatogamau Formation includes mafic, intermediate, and felsic flows, and synvolcanic intrusive equivalents which are the host for the volcanogenic massive sulphide occurrences (e.g., Coniagas). The stratigraphic sequence includes the 280 m thick Coniagas Mine sequence composed of a mafic dominated volcanoclastic sequence.

Porphyritic lava flows, prominent in the immediate area of the Coniagas Zn-Pb-Ag deposit (1.5 km west of the Bachelor deposit), cover the volcanoclastic unit. A significant 500 m to 700 m thick, lenticular and dome shaped felsic unit composed of massive to brecciated, rhyolitic to rhyodacitic lava flows occurs upsection. This felsic-dominated unit corresponds to the Bachelor deposit host rocks. Mafic volcanic and volcanoclastic rocks make up the upper part of the sequence. While the Auger Lake and Bachelor Lake sedimentary rocks remain enigmatic, it is probable that they mark the top of the sequence. The late emplacement of several plutons (e.g., O'Brien granodiorititic pluton located east of the Bachelor deposit), adds to the complexity of the region. Gold mineralization at Bachelor has been interpreted to pertain to the rocks of the O’Brien pluton including granitic porphyry and biotite-hornblende granodiorite. Posttectonic lamprophyre dykes are also common at Bachelor and kimberlitic dykes were documented in the Desmaraisville area. This later intrusive phase (N030° and N110° lamprophyre and kimberlitic dykes) has recently been investigated for diamond potential in the Desmaraisville area.

Bachelor is located along an east-southeast trending, southwest-dipping, silicified shear zone with hematitic alteration (Buro, 1984). Bachelor transects northeast trending, steeply dipping volcanic rocks and the O’Brien granitic to granodioritic pluton. Major west-southwest and north-northeast trending faults have affected the ore zone and the emplacement of the granite intrusions. Two types of gold bearing zones have been identified at Bachelor: silica-flooding, and hematite-altered ± stockwork zones, both of which are illustrated by the Main Zone (prolific, representing 90% ore mined to date at the Bachelor Mine) and the B Zone. In both instances, gold is spatially associated with pyrite and gold content correlates well with pyrite content.

The orebody has very competent host rocks and low cost longhole stoping is a good choice for the mining method.

Once the stopes were identified, it was possible to determine the development needed to mine these stopes. The width of the mineralized zones varies considerably. Some are as narrow as 1.2 metres (four ft) and other are more than 9.0 metres (30 ft) wide in some locations. Accordingly, it was decided that the ore should be extracted using sublevel stoping and longhole blasting (54 mm – 63.5 mm [2 ¹/8 inches - 2 ½ inches] blast hole diameter). It should be noted that the dip and continuity of the zones, as well as the quality of the vein walls, also suggest that this method could be used successfully. To obtain a high degree of accuracy (and thereby minimize dilution), the ideal drill-hole length of approximately 13.5 metres (45 ft) was used to determine the sublevel spacings.

The veins will be entirely excavated on every sublevel. This means that the width of a sublevel could also exceed 9.0 metres (30 ft). The walls of the sublevels have to be inclined according to the dip of the vein to minimize dilution. The height, on the other hand, must be kept at 2.74 metres (9 ft) to allow the longhole drilling equipment to have the necessary manoeuvring space. Métanor decided that Cavo 310 mucking machines would be needed to handle all the ore during excavation of these sublevels.

The sublevels will be excavated via service raises between the main levels, which will be used to move workers, equipment, services and broken rock. The raises will be spaced 61 metres (200 feet) apart to keep sublevel working faces clear. Otherwise, a second ore pass system will be installed to reduce mucking distances and attain anticipated mining performances. Alimak raises will be 2.4 m x 2.4 m (8 ft x 8 ft). Conventional raises can be excavated to 2.1 m x 1.8 m (7 ft x 6 ft) but for calculation purposes the raises were also considered to be 2.4 m x 2.4 m (8 ft x 8 ft). The track access drifts will have dimensions of 2.7 m x 2.7 m (9 ft x 9 ft) to allow passage of rail equipment and services. The ore drifts will be excavated without rails using Cavo 320 mucking machines. In narrow zones, the possibility of using a 1.8 m (6 ft) wide scraper and maintaining a slash of 0.9 m (3 ft) in the waste rock will be considered. Rail haulage drifts will be excavated parallel to the ore drifts and draw points will be developed every 10.7 m (35 ft) to effectively recover ore from the stopes.

The Bachelor Property is host to the fully permitted Bachelor Mill.

Cyclone overflow reports to a wood chips screen prior to flow by gravity into a 40-foot single tray thickener. Thickener underflow is pumped to a bank of four 22’ x 22’ leaching tanks followed by four 22’ x 22’ CIP reservoirs for a total leaching time of some 50 hours. The tanks interconnected with launders allow slurry to flow by gravity from one tank to the next. Each tank is fitted with impeller mechanical agitators to ensure uniform mixing and dispersion. Oxygen required for leaching is provided by air sparging through the bottom of the agitator shaft into the slurry. The adsorption tanks are each fitted with a woven wire inter-tank screen to retain the carbon. All tanks are provided with bypass facilities to allow any tank to be removed from service for maintenance.

Sodium cyanide solution is metered into the leach feed distribution box as required to maintain the desired cyanide concentrati ........