PGM exploration still tops list of activity: While gold exploration is on the rise in the northwest, high-technology metal exploration remains at the forefront. (Mining Special Report).

While prospectors and mining companies are busy searching in northwestern Ontario for the minerals of the future, they have not forgotten the lure of gold. Tantalum and platinum-group metals, such as platinum, palladium, rhodium and others, are attracting the most attention, but prospectors and mining companies are not only keeping their eyes on the rising price of gold, but they are also exploring for gold, mining industry spokesmen say.

Volatile prices for "future metals," so called because of their use in high-technology goods such as computers and cellphones, as well as vehicles, have fallen from recent highs, but remain strong enough to fuel extensive exploration activity, says Garry Clark, president of the Ontario Prospectors Association.

But political uncertainty and a slow-rising price have investors looking at gold, Clark says.

"(Gold) is tried and true," he says, adding that investors understand the value of gold and the gold-mining process better than platinum-group metals.

"If we get an upturn in gold prices, there are a lot of gold projects out there to be worked on," Clark says.

"There is some optimism," agrees John Mason, resident geologist with the Ontario Ministry of Northern Development and Mines for Thunder Bay North.

Companies are staking more areas in anticipation of higher prices, Mason says, but gold-exploration activity continues to take a back seat to platinum-group metals.

The largest development in the region continues to occur in the area around North American Palladium Inc.'s Lac des Iles Mine, about 100 kilometres north of Thunder Bay.

The company had no sooner begun work in August on a $220-million expansion at the mine, when a month later, in September, it announced the discovery of a new high-grade zone.

Even before the announcement, "there was a flurry of activity" occurring in the area, says Bernie Schnieders, the ministry's regional resident geologist for northwestern Ontario.

About 10 kilometres southeast of the Lac des Iles mine, at Legris Lake, Placer Dome (CLA) Ltd. and junior partners, Avalon Ventures Ltd. and Starcore Resources Ltd. are conducting a $1-million exploration project for platinum-group metals.

In early September New Millennium Metals Corp. reported the discovery of high-grade platinum-group mineralization on its Shelby Lake property about 12 kilometres south of Lac des Iles.

Platinum-group metals are also getting attention farther north. The Aurora Platinum Corp. has diamond drilling underway in the Lansdowne House area more than 200 kilometres, northeast of Pickle Lake and has identified 50 zones; of which 15 are reported to be significant.

Avalon Ventures Ltd. is in a joint-venture agreement with Global Canada Co. near Fort Hope, about 150 kilometres east of Pickle Lake, in a search for tantalum-cesium properties.

Tantalum discoveries are also the focus of explorations at Pakeagama Lake, 170 kilometres north of Red Lake, by Houston Lake Mining Inc., and at Seymour Lake, north of Lake Nipigon, by Linear Resources Inc.

While "future metals" may dominate the exploration sector of the industry, "our mainstay in production is still gold," says Mason.

Northwestern Ontario's six gold mines will produce 1.8 million ounces of gold in 2001, and that production has those companies looking to expand their operations, Mason says.

Rubicon Minerals Corp. and partner AngloGold (Canada) Exploration are conducting a major drill program on their Slate Bay project, 10 kilometres northwest of existing Red Lake mines.

Placer Dome, which owns the Campbell mine in Red Lake, is continuing work on its Madsen project 20 kilometres to the southwest, while Goldcorp Inc., which owns the Dickenson mine - one: of the highest grade gold mines in North America is also exploring the area.

Clark and the ministry officials credit action by the provincial government for the current level of activity. The 2000 budget included major reductions in mining and corporate taxes for mines to be phased-in over five years, as well as a 10-year mining tax exemption for new remote mines and preferential tax rates.