Alexo mine production slated to begin in 2004.

A Timmins-based nickel mining and exploration junior aims to position itself as one of the leading nickel producers in northeastern Ontario.

Canadian Arrow Mines Ltd, and its wholly owned subsidiary, Legendary Ore Mining Corp., began shipping nickel ore in early April to Sudbury for processing from their advanced exploration project on their Alexo nickel property.

The company has reactivated the former Alexo mine, about 45 kilometres northeast of Timmins, within the Town of Iroquois Falls, and has entered into a trucking agreement to ship 200 tonnes of nickel per day, with plans on entering full mine production this year.

Since April 5, the company has shipped 4,700 tonnes of material to Falconbridge's Strathcona mill in Sudbury. The company has an advanced exploration permit for a 10,000-pound bulk sample.

"We're poised to be the (area's) next nickel producer, and we believe we're going to have enough for a couple of years of continued use," says Paul Davis, Canadian Arrow's vice-president of exploration.

Davis says if the permitting phase over the next month goes smoothly, the company plans to be in commercial production by fall, with a five-day-a-week open-pit operation employing between 10 to 15 full-time miners.

The company has expectations to expand its portfolio of high-quality holdings in the Timmins area through its stated strategy to generate wealth through acquisition and development of small, high-grade and economical nickel deposits close to existing mining camps. The Alexo mine was one of the first mineral deposits in the Porcupine camp, beginning in 1913.

So far, Canadian Arrow has staked 9,000 hectares within 100 kilometres of Timmins, on properties with known near-surface nickel occurrences, such as their Hart-McWatters and North Swayze properties, and is looking for more.

"We're reviewing all the assets in the Timmins area (to) see if there's a possibility for some type of deal to be made with people who own the deposits," says Davis, a director on Canadian Arrow's management team.

The company's management team includes Hemlo discoverer John Larche, David Larche of Larchex Inc., and Warren Holmes, former Falconbridge Ontario vice-president of operations and president of the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum.

At Alexo, initial projections pegged the mine life at two years, with an anticipated ore grade of 3.5 per cent nickel, much richer than the 1.4 per cent mined by Falconbridge in Sudbury.

"We're drilling it off and we're very optimistic that that could be longer," says Davis.

The company will be drilling a number of untested targets on Alexo, as well as on their nearby Kelex nickel-copper zone and a number of their other properties this summe,r with a $2.5-million exploration budget set aside for a 20,000-metre diamond drill program.

www.canadianarrowminesltd.com

By IAN ROSS

Northern Ontario Business