Warwick Mountain (Eastern Cobequid Highlands) Project

Preliminary Outline of Call for Exploration Proposals

Nova Scotia expects to invite mineral exploration companies to submit exploration proposals for the Warwick Mountain Project area in 2019.

The Warwick Mountain Project is a low-sulfidation epithermal gold property in Colchester and Cumberland counties (mineral closure number C000200). The Call for Exploration Proposals represents a unique opportunity to secure a belt-scale gold play. This property consists of a maximum of 1910 400 m x 400 m mineral claims covering a total area of up to 30560 hectares. The successful applicant will be selected based on the merits of their exploration proposal. The applicant will be required to stake the entire property, but may design the shape of the licenses within the area as they see appropriate. The property will be subject to the standard staking fee of $10/claim.

Once the official Call for Exploration Proposals is announced, interested applicants are welcome to submit their exploration proposals.

Materials submitted in these proposals must include (but will not be limited to):

Exploration Plan:

  • A detailed exploration plan for the first two years. This must include details of all planned surveys, including explanation(s) of why the chosen exploration method(s) is appropriate for this deposit type.
  • A rough outline of the corporate vision for subsequent exploration campaigns on the property.
  • Detailed documentation of the corporate expertise, technical team, and qualified person(s) who will be responsible for the project.

Budget:

  • Proposed exploration expenditures for the first 2 years of the project.
  • The minimum proposed budget must match the minimum expenditure to maintain tenure ($200 per claim/ 2 years). Applications with lesser budgets will not be considered.
  • Applicants must post a Performance Bond of 10% of the proposed 2-year exploration budget with their application. Unsuccessful applicants will be refunded the bond upon notification that they were unsuccessful. For the successful applicant, the bond will be held until full documentation of the proposed exploration expenditures have been submitted to the Nova Scotia Registry of Mineral and Petroleum Titles as an Assessment Report. If the applicant has failed to complete the work proposed in the original exploration plan, or has invested less than suggested in the budget, they will forfeit the bond, and the license or licenses may be subject to revocation.
  • The applicant must demonstrate a commitment to using Nova Scotia-based contractors when appropriate, and when possible, contractors local to the project area.

Corporate History:

  • Applicants must list their corporate operational history in the exploration industry over the last 5 years. Please provide a brief (e.g., 500-word) summary of select projects (maximum of 3), highlighting exploration successes and innovations. NR&R will use this information to evaluate the applicant’s record of exploration excellence, innovation and regulatory compliance.

Social Licence/Community Engagement:

  • The Applicant must submit a community engagement plan. This must include how they will to engage with local landowners, the municipal government, the Mi’kmaq of Nova Scotia, non-government organizations, and other stakeholders. Applicants may consult the following guiding document “Community Consultation: A guide for Prospectors and Mineral Exploration Companies Working in Nova Scotia” when designing a plan. It can be found at: https://novascotia.ca/natr/meb/community-consultation/consultation-reports.asp.
  • Nova Scotia has a defined engagement process for the Mi’kmaq. See: https://novascotia.ca/natr/meb/community-consultation/aboriginal-consultation.asp.
  • A portion of the mineral closure overlaps the French River Water Supply. This is a surface water supply utility that extracts water from the French River to service the village of Tatamagouche.
  • The following conditions must be met to work in this water supply:
    • The company will be required to provide funding to the Municipality of Colchester County that will be used to contract an independent environmental consultant that will monitor any exploration activites. Terms of reference, and contract price of this consultant, will be negotiated between the company and the municipality.
    • Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources established water sample stations in the headwater brooks feeding into French River and collected and analyzed the first suite of baseline samples. The company will be required to continue sample collection and analyses at these sample stations (see https://novascotia.ca/natr/meb/data/pubs/17ofr01/ofr_me_2017-001.pdf).
  • In community consultation meetings community members expressed concerns regarding potential contamination to wells due to mineral exploration or future mining activities. Applicants should include information in their community engagement plans on how they will address these concerns. Water well locations and data can be found on NR&R’s Groundwater Atlas at: https://novascotia.ca/natr/meb/geoscience-online/maps-interactive.asp. Corporate Policy Environment
  • The Applicant must present detailed corporate polices, on exploration best practices, environmental, health and safety, and social engagement. These will be subject to review by NR&R as well as a representative of the local community or municipality.
  • Please note: This is a preliminary outline of what the Call for Proposals may contain when it is released. The final version of the call may be different.