Thomas Morris, President, CEO and Director of Northern Superior Resources
"A lot of the next finds are going to be under the dirt," says Thomas Morris, President, CEO and Director of Ontario-based Northern Superior Resources.
Thomas is a Professional Geoscientist with nearly 30 years of experience in mining and exploration. He joined Northern Superior in 2002 when it was known as Superior Diamonds and, in the eight years since then, has gradually shifted the company’s focus away from diamonds towards gold. When asked the logic behind that decision, Thomas told us, "I decided that diamonds were falling out of favor with the market". As part of this change of emphasis, he oversaw the re-branding of the company which also changed its name to the present-day Northern Superior Resources in 2007.
Northern Superior still has its diamond properties but now it is keen to develop its Canadian gold resources.
Northern Superior Resources' principal property is now known as Ti-pa-haa-kaa-ning (from the original Oji-Cree) which roughly translates to 'That exploration place'. Thomas proudly calls it the "Crown project in our portfolio". For obvious convenience, the resource is known as TPK. The exploration project is situated on the Traditional Land of the First Nations Community of Neskantaga and is just under 500 km Northeast of Thunder Bay in the province of Ontario. It consists of 188 claims over an area of 40,368 hectares and has a strike length of 6km (possibly as long as 10km). It centers around a new greenstone belt and represents one of the largest gold grain aprons in the whole of North America.
Thomas tells us, "What's unique about this property is that we've defined the third-largest gold grain-in-till dispersal apron in North America. What that means is that we have found an awful lot of gold grains in dirt on this property."
Historically, Canada's mineral resources have originated from the Superior Geologic Province region of the Canadian Shield. The majority of this has been obtained from exposed sites (some 10% of the region's area), the other 90% is substantially unexplored territory.
"We're probably sitting on something that resembles a new gold district in Northern Ontario,” he says.
TPK was originally a partnership with Lake Shore Gold Corporation. However, in early 2010, Northern Superior purchased Lake Shore's half so they now own the property outright. This year Northern Superior entered an option agreement with Rainy River Resources Limited; whereby the latter has a 51% holding in the eastern half of TPK in return for an undertaking to commit $11m between now and 2013.
"We're very excited about getting these guys on,” Thomas states. "They're committed to doing it, they have the money to do it and they have the expertise to do it."
The deal with Rainy River Resources is beneficial in other ways. There is a high level of correlation between the gold grain-in-till anomalies of TPK and Rainy River although the southern portion of the TPK anomaly has yet to be RC drilled. The gold grain-in-till dispersal apron of TPK is impressive as there are only two other locations in Canada that are comparable in size. Its size suggests that the associated gold mineralization may represent a major gold system rather than a solitary gold zone.
"The geology itself is based on shear zones extending from the major Stull-Wunnimun Fault through the felsic intrusive terrain,” Thomas explains. "Subsequent exploration really taught us that the gold was not associated with the greenstone belt."
TPK is not Northern Superior's only project. It also owns outright gold properties at Chibougamou River, Hazeur, Lac Surprise, Lemarck Creek, Lespinay, Meston Lake and Rapson Bay. All sites are located in a belt running from Northwestern Ontario to Central Quebec. Northern Superior is presently looking for joint venture partners to help them fund further exploration at these and other sites. The company also has a diamond project at Ville Marie in Western Quebec; however there is a hiatus on this site at the moment while the diamond market recovers and Northern Superior raises capital to progress exploration.
The location of TPK makes it a sensitive issue with the indigenous people since it is on their Traditional Land. As a result, Northern Superior signed an Early Economic Benefits Agreement with Neskantaga First Nation in 2008.
Since then, geological exploration has centered around the newly-discovered shear zones. The Company has completed 170 RC holes and is currently in the middle of a diamond drill program. It is anticipated that 15 diamond drill holes will be completed before Christmas. A high-resolution, tightly-gridded airborne survey has also been completed and this has identified a number of electro-magnetic anomalies.
Mapping and Drilling
"What we're looking at here are significant shear zones that are extending off this area,” Thomas explains. "You're looking at essentially gold bearing fluids that have escaped into what we define as two major shear zones, one of which is up to 300m in width, and gold depositing as a solution within these shear zones."
Northern Superior and Rainy River are planning additional RC drilling and diamond drilling programs in 2011. The number of additional RC holes will be determined from results derived from the RC programs just completed. 20-25 diamond drill holes are planned.
When asked about the grade of the gold being located, Thomas replied, "It's still fairly early."
New gold showing, located at head of Big Dam dispersal apron
Northern Superior Resources are listed on the Toronto Venture Exchange (SUP - TSX.V). Their current share price is $0.62 having nearly doubled in value over the last three months alone - good news for its shareholders although its price did rise to around $0.80 back in 2004. Its current market capital is just under $92m and it has just under 148m shares issued. There are about 5.5m options and 14m warrants outstanding. Northern Superior has a working capital of around $5.5m.
"We're in good shape financially. We're spending other people's money on our projects,” Thomas advises. "We also have a very good portfolio of projects and hope to find option partners to bring those forward."
When asked why investors should choose Northern Superior Resources, Thomas said, that the high quality of its team of management and geologists, the sound business plan it is following, the tightness of its geographical focus and the potential of its acquisitions are all convincing reasons.
“We have money in the treasury so we're not out there cap in hand looking for funds,” he says confidently. “We're going to have just under 7m (Can) going into 2011. I think we're in excellent shape going forward here.”
The management team is made up of Alan Moon (Chairman), Arnold Klasen (Head of Audit), Brian Booth (Director), Wayne Livingston (Director), Donald Boucher (Vice-President of Exploration), Paul Simpson (Corporate Secretary), and Aris Morfopoulos (Chief Financial Officer).
Thomas says proudly, "I've been very fortunate to work with some exceptional people."
For more information about Northern Superior Resources, see their website - www.nsuperior.com
SUMMARY
Northern Superior Resources is investigating the unexplored portion of the Canadian Shield and, in particular, the project at Ti-pa-haa-kaa-ning in Ontario. Thomas Morris, President and CEO, talks about their plans to develop this major gold district which is sited on the Traditional Land of the First Nations Community of Neskantaga.
For more information:
www.nsuperior.com
Thomas F. Morris
President and CEO
Tel: (705) 525- 0992
Fax: (705) 525- 7701
E-mail: info@nsuperior.ca