Osisko opens door to enlarging Gaspé copper deposit in Quebec

[Ben Graham]

Osisko Metals (TSX: OM) hinted it may enlarge the deposit at its flagship Gaspé polymetallic project in Quebec after reporting drill results as high as 108 metres grading 0.84% copper and 3.35 grams silver per tonne.

That intercept, from 417 metres depth in hole 30-1090, also included 11.9 metres at 0.84% copper and 7.79 grams silver from 433 metres downhole, Osisko said Thursday. Another highlight hole, 30-1081, cut 301.8 metres averaging 0.41% copper and 3.36 grams silver from 94 metres downhole.

“Today’s results show consistency of mineralization across both infill and expansion areas,” National Bank Financial mining analyst Rabi Nizami said in a note. “We anticipate the pace of exploration and news flow to accelerate during the summer months ahead, with nine rigs now actively upgrading and expanding mineralization well past the 2024 resource.”

The results, among eight holes, are part of a fully funded 110,000-metre drill program that Osisko is carrying out at Gaspé.

The company is working to expand the resource with a view to potentially reopening the former Noranda mine in Murdochville, about 825 km northeast of Montreal. It’s targeting permits and construction by the early 2030s, with initial capital spending estimated at about C$1.8 billion.

Unconstrained resource

Gaspé hosts an indicated resource of 824 million tonnes grading 0.27% copper, 0.015% molybdenum and 1.74 grams silver for contained metal of 2.23 million tonnes of copper, 124,000 tonnes of molybdenum and 46 million oz. of silver, according to an estimate released in November.

The inferred resource is estimated at 670 million tonnes grading 0.3% copper, 0.02% molybdenum and 1.37 grams silver for contained metal of 1.99 million tonnes of copper, 133,000 tonnes of molybdenum and 29.5 million oz. of silver.

The project’s resource, “which is already among the largest in North America, remains unconstrained and is likely to be upgraded to measured and indicated and also expanded further” in next year’s first quarter, Nizami added.

The new results “continue to confirm the large-scale potential of mineralization at Gaspé Copper,” CEO Robert Wares said in a statement. He touted “the excellent prospects for increasing the size of the known deposit towards the south.”

Osisko shares rose 1.2% to C$0.425 in early afternoon trading in Toronto Thursday, giving the company a market value of about C$259 million.