Copper discovery in St. Julien's

There's copper in St. Julien's...but is there enough for a mine?

That's the multi-million dollar question.

"It's one of the best prospects I've seen in about 15 years," said Robert Freeman, vice-president of exploration for Eagle Ridge Minerals Ltd. "But it's still a lottery ticket."

Eagle Ridge has a nine-man team, five of whom are local, staking out the area and taking samples. The company is spending $750,000 on the current round of exploration, including a versatile terrain electromagnetic survey which was done last week from a helicopter. Over the next year the company plans to spend a further $5-million and exploratory drilling could begin this winter.

Eagle Ridge has staked 302 claims around resettled St. Julien's and Grandois, 152 of which have been optioned from four brothers who found the copper - Eddie, Don, Wilbert and Fred McGrath.

So far, Mr. Freeman's team has found some 50 veins bearing copper. While some samples tested have been as high as 22.5 per cent copper, he estimates an average of eight to 10 million tonnes of ore bearing three per cent copper over a half square km.

To justify mining activity, he said, typically two to three per cent copper is needed. While density appears to be high enough in St. Julien's, the issue his team needs to answer is whether there's enough.

"So far, I think there are three deposits," said Mr. Freeman to his crew as he scampered over rocks, directing the staking of a grid. "I know I seem particular, but we're gonna be working from these stakes for the next three years."

While the McGrath brothers brought Eagle Ridge to the area last spring, their exploration began as children climbing over rusty rocks. While the Grandois natives left the McGrath fishing stage as young men to seek work, those memories came rushing back to Wilbert as he toiled on Voisey Bay drilling rigs during the nickel rush.

"My interest was based on the simple concept of 'rusty rocks' that is a obvious indication of mineralization present in rocks, sulphides, as the oxidization process causes the rocks to be rust-stained," said Wilbert. "I kept thinking of a place I knew back near my hometown - there was lots of rusty rocks near the old St. Julien's mine shaft."

So, Wilbert, Eddie, Don and Fred made themselves a summer project - they pumped out the old mine shaft.

"The old-timers always told us it was a copper mine," said Eddie. "It started out as a bit of excitement and an excuse to get together."

But when the water was gone from the century-old exploration shaft, the brothers found a large rusty area and took samples. They came back showing eight per cent copper.

Believing in their find, they went to the annual conference of the Prospectors Development Association of Canada in Toronto, where they met Mr. Freeman.

"These boys knew nothing about prospecting, but they took the initiative and came to Toronto and all they ever seemed to care about was their community," said Mr. Freeman. "They deserve a lot of credit - this is one of only a few forgotten copper mines in Canada."

With the recent progress, Wilbert has allowed himself to indulge in dreams of a future for Grandois, which has withered to 20 residents at the end of a long dirt road since the cod moratorium.

"Following a successful drilling program, the ultimate dream is naturally to see mining development and to see the schools and churches full of people again in Croque and Grandois."

Don, meanwhile, just smiled on his way back to the old family stage after a morning building a shed on the site, and said, "If nothing else, it's a good excuse for a ride in boat."