A few people sent me questions this morning and I am just getting to them now. I will post what I replied for everyone.
As far as the "Final" signing of the drilling contract goes, what I can say is that no Drilling Contractor will sign a final contract until they have actually performed a site inspection.
I have been on several of these and the concerns they typically have are:
The exact topology of each proposed drill location (sometimes a mining company wants to drill in odd locations and it can be problematic)
The actual conditions of roads to all of the site. (Some of the equipment is quite large, meaning Big Trucks).
Living conditions (things have changed... Drillers have "Needs and requirements" these days like everyone else... lol), equipment storage and a few other smaller items.
Most of this is fairly routine and I do not see anything that would delay this any further.
I am Extremely Happy they have actually Chosen a Drilling Contractor!
I will also assume this contractor has the correct size/type drill specified by the Hawkins report and that it is available right now.
Access to this site is really not affected as much by Winter concerns as the mines way up in Northern Canada. I have actually made this drive right through Chapleau in late Fall and it was actually pretty nice weather. They do not get the deep snow nearly as much or as often as they do much further up.
I see no reason that they could not keep access to this site year round. The primary roads to the lake are all kept clear by the Ontario government (this is Canada Route 101) and all Sarissa will have to do is clear any snow (when they start to get any) on the gravel/dirt roads on the site itself. My property (35 acres) is at 6500 feet in the Rocky's and I have a John Deere tractor w/plow that I use to clear the 2 1/2 miles of roads that cris-cross my land and have no problem keeping it clear, even at that high altitude and with the huge amount of snow I get. Chapleau does not get any wheres near the snow I do so I really do not see any issues there.
All is good. After the inspection, securing rooms for the drillers & getting the equipment to the site is done they can Finally get to the real work... Drilling!
Drilling each hole (as others have already stated) will take 3-5 days each, depending on what they hit. Niobium is not the softest stuff to drill through, but certainly not the hardest. They also have an advantage of all the prior work and data from the earlier drilling so they pretty much know already what they will be drilling through. Huge Advantage for them!
I think we will have a very Merry Christmas...
And a Happier New Year...
Cheers All,
ThegoodlifeGeo
AI
