Goldfields - Box Deposit

Highlights

• Over 685,900 ounces of 43-101 compliant Proven and Probable gold reserves.
• Planned production of 70,000 to 90,000 ounces of gold per year.
• Excellent economic feasibility results including a 5000 tonne/day open-pit operation, 93% recovery of contained gold values and a 3.42:1 strip ratio.
• Combined with the Athona Deposit, a USD $137.6 million NPV @ 5% using a $850/oz gold price. (IRR 42.7%) and a USD $203.0 million NPV @ 5% using a $1000/oz gold price. (IRR 58.1%)
• In final stages of completing mine engineering design and construction permit applications.
• Environmental Impact Study has been approved and initiated.
• 2010 Exploration drill program underway to test the open down-dip extension of mineralized zone as well as other regional targets.
• Excellent infrastructure, local facilities and resources.

Location, Infrastructure and Land Tenure

Brigus Gold's Goldfields Development Property is located on the northern shore of Lake Athabasca in northwestern Saskatchewan approximately 640 km north of Saskatoon and 450 km southeast of Yellowknife, NWT (see Map 1).

The Box Deposit is part of the Goldfields Property located approximately 24km south of Uranium City, Saskatchewan in the Neiman Bay area on the northern shore of Lake Athabasca. Uranium City is serviced by regularly scheduled flights from Saskatoon and charters and seasonal barge service from Stoney Rapids, SK and Fort McMurry, AB (see Map 2). Winter road access across Lake Athabasca makes landfall at Lodge Bay, approximately 3km from the Box Mine. Electrical power for the Uranium City region is sourced by the Charlot River hydroelectric station, approximately 24km northeast of Uranium City, and supplied by SaskPower. Transmission lines connect the Box Mine to the main electrical grid and are in excellent condition.

The 100% Brigus-owned Goldfields claim group consists of 35 contiguous active mining claims totaling 25,685 hectares (see Map 3). Franco-Nevada holds a 2% NSR on an area 10 miles from the external boundary of the Box Mine property. The Box Mine is also subject to a 1.5% NSR held by Teck Resources Ltd. (formerly Cominco Ltd.) on all ore mined below the -50m elevation on the original Cominco mining claims. One Brigus Gold claim unit, located north of the Athona Deposit near Goldfields Bay, is subject to a 1.8% NSR to an individual prospector.

Map 1. Goldfields Location.



Map 2. Great Slave Lake - Athabasca Basin Region and Goldfields Location.



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Map 3. Goldfields Claim Group and Infrastructure.



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History and Historical Results

Gold was discovered near the eastern shore of Vic Lake (see Map 4) directly to the northwest of the present-day Box Mine in 1934 by Tom Box and August Neiman. The area was staked and prospected by Box in the summer of 1934 and acquired by The Consolidated Mining and Smelting Company of Canada Limited (Cominco Ltd., now Teck Resources Ltd.). 13 diamond drill holes were completed in 1935, which led to the construction of two shafts and an underground mine-mill operation averaging 1000 tons/day by 1939 increasing to 1400 tons/day by 1940. A total of 9052m of drilling was carried out from 1935 to 1939, including 42 surface diamond drill holes and 114 underground diamond drill holes. Between June of 1939 and August of 1942, 64,066 ounces of gold and 19,504 ounces of silver were produced from the Box Mine. Production ceased due to World War II work force shortages.

The Box Mine property was dormant until optioned by Greater Lenora Resources Corp. (now GLR Resources) in 1987. Pre-feasibility studies were carried out in 1987 to 1988 followed by Box Mine Granite (BMG) bulk trench sampling and a 1,620m (14 hole) diamond drill program, in mid 1988. Positive results led to an additional 4,882m (41 hole) diamond drill program, which better defined the BMG unit and the gold distribution throughout the ore-body. A small mill and leaching facility was erected at the Box Mine to complete further bulk trench sampling and investigate and improve the assaying procedure. Higher grades were consistently returned than those reported by the Cominco Ltd. mill, which led to investigation of the historical data and Box Mine tailings, which yielded microscopic coarse gold. Casmyn Engineering concluded that gold recovery at the Box mill during the 1939 to 1942 operation was likely in range of 70-75% due to several factors including inadequate leach residence time and too coarse of a grind size.

An open pit reserve calculation and pit model was completed by R.G. Gray Consultants following the completion of the 1988 diamond drilling program. Ore reserve estimate at a 1.03 g/t cutoff yielded 6,116,000 tonnes of ore at a grade of 2.21 g/t Au. A 3,199m reverse circulation drill program totaling 47 holes was completed in 1989 and the results of 2,227 samples were milled and used to calculate a reserve estimate to a vertical depth of 60m. This data produced an estimate of 732,882 tonnes at a grade of 1.623 g/t Au at a cut-off of 1.03 g/t. MINTEC INC. calculated a reserve incorporating all data in 1991. Pit reserves to a vertical depth of 150m were estimated to be 6,647,000 tonnes at 2.26 g/t Au with a 2.90 strip ratio using a 1.03 g/t cut-off. Using a 0.51 g/t cut-off, reserves were calculated as 10,130,000 tonnes at 1.78 g/t Au with a 1.21 strip ratio.

A total of 152 holes totaling 25,530.77m were drilled at the Box Mine during the 1994-1995 exploration campaigns. These infill holes provided additional data used in ore-body modeling, resource calculations and metallurgical testing. Resource and Reserve calculations by H.A. Simons conducted in 1995 estimated 13.340 million tonnes grading 1.704 g/t Au using a 0.5 g/t cut-off and 12.2 million tonnes grading 1.70 g/t Au at a 0.475 g/t cut-off, respectively.

A 2004-2005 diamond drill program totaling 4,360m between 37 holes was initiated to provide confirmation of older drilling and Quality Assurance and Quality Control (QA/QC) assay information. Five holes from the 2004-2005 campaign were drilled specifically for piezometer testing. Data gained from the piezometer testing will be used in modeling water flow through various rock units, which will be part of the environmental monitoring program enacted during Box Mine planning and production.

In 2005, AMEC categorized the Box deposit into Measured, Indicated and Inferred Resource categories by both a selective mining option and a bulk mining option. The selective mining option, using a cut-off grade of 0.5 g/t Au, estimated 7.513 million tonnes grading 1.91 g/t Au totaling 462,000 ounces in the Measured and Indicated category and 2.251 million tonnes grading 1.94 g/t Au totaling 140,000 ounces in the Inferred category. The bulk mining scenario, using a zero cutoff (assuming all material inside the 0.5 g/t Au envelope would be mined and milled), estimated 13.215 million tonnes grading 1.44 g/t Au totaling 613,000 ounces in the Measured and Indicated category and 96,000 to tonnes grading 1.48 g/t Au totaling 5,000 ounces in the Inferred category.

The AMEC resource estimate was updated by Wardrop Engineering Inc. in 2006-2007 resulting in an overall increase in combined Measured and Indicated total ounces of approximately 12% or 74,000 ounces (from 613,000 to 687,000 ounces). Grade increased from 1.44 g/t to 1.75 g/t Au and tonnage was decreased by 7.7%. This increase in ounces was achieved by incorporating surface trench data and eliminating the 0.5 g/t Au grade envelope used by AMEC.

Bikerman Engineering & Technology Associates, Inc. completed a bankable feasibility study (43-101 compliant) on the Box Mine in June of 2007, revised in May of 2008 for GLR and September of 2009 for Brigus Gold. The September 2009 revision increased gold ounces by 14% over the 2008 study. Updated Box Mine Proven and Probable gold reserves total 685,900 ounces from 14.908 million tonnes grading 1.43 g/t Au. Updated Box Mine Measured and Indicated gold resources total 753,000 ounces from 16.901 million tonnes grading 1.39 g/t Au using a 0.25 g/t cut-off. Inferred resources include 111,000 ounces from 3.710 million tonnes grading 0.93 g/t Au using a 0.25 g/t cut-off.

See the Box Mine Reserves and Resources section and Box Mine Feasibility Study section for detailed economic results.

GLR completed a condemnation drilling program in 2007 totaling 3348.6m (13 diamond drill holes) to outline a plant location. Of the seven holes drilled in close proximity to the southern edge of the pit, all intersected the BMG and several intersected significant gold zones that are currently not incorporated in the current pit design. See the Exploration section for details on the 2007 drilling and Brigus's 2010 exploration program.

Table 1: Box Mine Drill Hole and Sampling Summary.



Chan = channel
DDH = diamond drill hole
RCD = reverse circulation drill hole
UG = underground

Brigus Gold acquired a 100% interest in the Goldfields Property, including the Box Mine, from GLR Resources, in August of 2009. Brigus is currently completing the final mine engineering design and construction permitting for the Box Mine as well as planning exploration drilling to test the down-dip extension of the BMG and the 2007 intersections.

See the Exploration section for details on Brigus's Box Mine exploration program.
See the Box Mine Development section for details on the Box Mine planning and development.

Regional Geology

Northern Saskatchwan is predominantly underlain by variably deformed and metamorphosed rocks of Archean age (3070 to 3014 Ma) to Helikian age (1450 to 1350 Ma). In the northwest, the Archean basement is overlain by redbeds of the Martin Group, which were probably deposited during and immediately following the main Hudsonian orogenic event (ca. 1900 to 1800 Ma), which sutured the Churchill Platform to the Superior Craton of North America. The Goldfields Property lies within the Western Craton Tectonic Zone of the Churchill Structural Province in the southwestern portion of the Beaverlodge Domain of the Rae Province. Faulting during the Trans-Hudson orogeny provided sites for fault-bound basins which later filled with clastic sediments and minor volcanics.

The Western Craton is one of Saskatchewan's three main crustral regions and is comprised by mainly Archean basement, Lower Proterozoic granite plutons and migmatites. The Archean rocks have been subjected to amphibolite to granulite facies metamorphism during early orognic events and later overprinted by greenschist to amphibolite facies metamorphism during the Hudsonian orogeny. The Archean-aged Tazin Group, northwest of Lake Athabasca, is formed mainly by sediments and volcanic derived supracrustal rocks, felsic gneisses and granites. The Nevins Lake Block extends from Beaverlodge Lake east across the northern shore of Lake Athabasca to Fond du Lac. The Murmac Bay Group (ca. 2200 to 2000 Ma), which host the Box Mine Granite and Box Mine, lies within the Nevins Lake block and is located on the north-central to north-eastern shore of Lake Athabasca.

Rocks in the Goldfields area are deformed into NNW to NE trending folds, gently plunging 10° to 25° south. Faulting and shearing in the region are of variable strike and offset, but at least four periods of faulting are recognized in the Beaverlodge area, dating from 1900 Ma to 270 Ma. Major structral features of the region include the St. Louis Fault and the ABC Fault. The St. Louis Fault trends NE dipping southerly from 50° to 55° and is traced for over 10 km from the nothern shore of Beaverlodge Lake. The ABC Fault trends northwesterly at 300° to 330° dipping from 40° to 55° approximately 5.6 km to termination at the NE trending Back Bay Fault. The Back Bay Fault is tracable for 18 km along the Back Bay shore of Lake Athabasca to the northeast.

Deposit Geology

The Murmac Bay Group, which hosts the Box Mine area, comprises mildly metamorphosed and deformed quartzites, calcareous rocks, amphibolites and volcanically derived units. Pelites, iron formations and ultramafic units are rarer, but there is some amphibolite - komatiite affinity. Intrusives include amphibolite sills, granitoids and mafic dykes. Granites and granite gneisses are intrusive (leucogranite, feldspar augen and late pegmatites) and possibly metasomatic.

The supracrustal sequence in the Box Mine area has undergone at least two periods of intense deformation. A major syncline structure striking N 020° E to N 030° E with minor folding was produced with greenschist metamorphism in the Goldfields area. The Box Mine property lies on the western limb of the syncline. The Box Mine Granite (BMG) unit responded in a brittle to brittle-ductile manner to the deformation event(s), resulting in the fractures sets characterizing the BMG.

There has been debate over the origin of the "mine granites" in the Goldfields region between the conventional magmatic intrusive genesis and the granitization/feldspathazation of the clastic metasediments. The magmatic supporters proposed that the granites were of igneous origin and were themselves the source of the late magmatic fluids causing silicification, feldspathazation, hematization, pyritization and quartz veining on the country rocks and granites. The granitization supporters support their argument with the observance of metasedimentary textures. The 1995 drill campaign intersected the Box Mine Granite (BMG) in several holes and displayed non-magmatic textures including the draping of bedding around clasts and distinct pebble to cobble sized clasts of feldspar granite, occasionally with quartz-filled fractures not extending into the rock matrix.

The BMG extends for approximately 750m laterally with an average width of 40m (to 60m at centre of unit). The lithology strikes at approximately N047°E dipping from 30° to 45° (averaging 43°) to the southeast. The BMG is intensely quartz-stockworked (See below image) with gold mineralization associated with fine-grained pyrite in the quartz and quartz-carbonate veining. Some of the auiferous quartz veins trending N010°E also host galena, sphalterite and chalcopyrite.

Image 1. Box Mine Granite and Quartz Stockwork, trending predominantly northeast. (View north-northwest.)



Box Mine 43-101 Compliant Reserves and Resources

GLR Resources Inc. (GLR) retained Bikerman Engineering & Technology Associates, Inc. (BETA) to complete a 43-101F1 compliant feasibility study for the Box Mine Project in 2007 to justify a production decision. The study was updated in May of 2008 to report the results of mineral resources for the Athona Deposit. The study was updated again in September of 2009, at the request of Brigus Gold Corp., to include technical changes regarding equipment purchase orders, operating costs and economics (higher consumable costs and higher gold price). The September 2009 update resulted in a 14% gold ounce reserve increase for the Box Mine over the 2008 study. Total proven and probable minable reserves, using a 0.25 g/t cutoff grade, are 14.9 million tonnes of ore at an average grade of 1.43 g/t, containing 685,900 ounces of gold (637,890 recoverable ounces), with a 3.42 to 1 strip ratio.

See Table 2 and Table 3 below for Box Mine Proven and Probable Reserves and Box Mine Measured, Indicated and Inferred Resources, respectively.

Table 2: Box Mine Proven and Probable Reserves.



Box Mine resources, using a 0.25 g/t cutoff grade, total 16.9 million tonnes at an average grade of 1.39 g/t, containing 753,000 ounces of gold in the measured and indicated category and 3.7 million tonnes at an average grade of 0.93 g/t, containing 111,000 ounces of gold in the inferred category.

Table 3: Box Mine Measured, Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resources.



Box Mine Feasibility Study, Mine Development and Economics

Brigus Gold is progressing with the final mine engineering design and construction permitting applications for the Box Mine.

The Box Mine Net Present Value (NPV) using a US$850.00 per ounce gold price and a 5% discount rate is $US105.6 million with an Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 42.2%. See Table 4 for a Financial Analysis Summary of the Box Mine.

Table 4: Financial Analysis Summary of Box Mine and Goldfields Project.



The Box Mine is proposed to have a 9.4 year mine life from a 5000 tonnes per day (1.8 million tonnes per year) open-pit operation, with an estimated operating cost of US$375.00 per ounce of gold. Per tonne operating cost is US$16.01 per tonne, at a 3.42:1 strip ratio.

Pre-production activities include development of the waste dump and stockpile areas, haul road development and construction of the ore processing plant. A mill circuit will be constructed, consisting of conventional crushing and grinding with gravity separation, flotation and agitation leach. See Map 4 for the proposed Goldfields project area site map, including Box Mine pit.

Map 4. Existing and Proposed Infrastructure at the Goldfields Project.



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Click here for complete 43-101 Box Mine Feasibility Study or download the Technical Report from SEDAR (filed Oct 6, 2009 by Brigus Gold Corp.).

Environmental Permitting

Brigus has obtained approval for the Golfields Project's Environmental Impact Study (EIS), which is generally a prerequisite of additional permitting that will be required for the project. An environmental monitoring program was initiated in September of 2009, which will remain in place throughout the life of the mine. Independent environmental contractors along with Brigus employees will be responsible for ensuring that the advancement of the Goldfields project is carried out in a environmentally responsible manner.

2010 Exploration

A 2010 exploration program is currently underway for the Goldfields project at several targets, including an initial 3000 metre drill program. At the Box Mine, the down-dip potential of the Box Mine Granite is being drilled to test the ore-grade gold zones that were intersected during 2007 drilling by GLR Resources. See Map 5 for the current proposed Box Mine pit extents and location of the 2007 intercepts, including the following significant intersections:

B07-292: 2.13 g/t Au over 47.81m, including 8.60m @ 8.35 g/t Au.
B07-294: 6.32 g/t Au over 16.72m, including 8.80m @ 11.47 g/t Au.
B07-296: 2.54 g/t Au over 23.76m, including 7.9m @ 5.57 g/t Au.

Map 5. Down-dip Exploration Potential at the Box Mine.



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The first three diamond drill holes of Brigus's 2010 drill program targeted the down-dip extent of the Box Mine Granite approximately 30 to 150m below the proposed Box Mine pit. Highlights from the first three holes include the following true width intersections:

B10-303: 2.28 g/t Au over 29.1m, including 14.1m @ 3.87 g/t Au, including 4.7m @ 7.50 g/t Au. B10-304: 2.52 g/t Au over 47.1m, including 13.9m @ 6.84 g/t Au.

See Table 5 and Map 6 for collar and location information for drill holes B10-303, B10-304 and B10-305.

Table 5. Results from Brigus's First Three Drill Holes of 2010 Drill Program.



Map 6. Box Mine Drill Hole Plan Map, Proposed Box Mine Pit and Location of First Three 2010 Drill Holes.



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An Induced Polarization (IP) and Resitivity (DCIP) survey using the advanced Quantec Geoscience Titan 24 geophysical system was completed on February 19, 2010. The Titan 24 geophysical system acquired high resolution results to depths of approximately 700 metres. Brigus's program was designed to identify new gold mineralized systems near the Box and Athona Gold Deposits. Through processing, inversion and interpretation of results, information can be obtained on conductive minerlization, disseminated minearlization, alteration, structure and geology. The survey covered an area of 13 square kilometres and results from final data processing and modeling are expected two to three weeks after survey completion. Early processed results show the Box and Athona Gold Deposits as chargeability and resistivity anomalies. Brigus's 2010 drill program will test several similar look-alike geophysical anomalies. See Map 7 below for the location of the geophysical survey grid at Goldfields.

Map 7. Titan 24 IP/Resistivity Survey Area and Historical Gold showings in Goldfieds area.



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The 2010 exploration program will continue into the summer as the regional historical gold showings are investigated through surface exploration and drilling.

Map 8. Regional Exploration Potential of the Goldfields Project.



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