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Noront Resources completes acquisition of MacDonald Mines

Noront Resources has completed the all-share acquisition of a 75 per cent interest in MacDonald Mines and its highly prospective Butler and Sanderson properties, increasing its holdings in the Ring of Fire region of Northern Ontario to 522 claim unit

Noront Resources has completed the all-share acquisition of a 75 per cent interest in MacDonald Mines and its highly prospective Butler and Sanderson properties, increasing its holdings in the Ring of Fire region of Northern Ontario to 522 claim units.

The Butler property covers a very prolific belt of felsic volcanic rocks that hosts four known zinc-copper rich volcanogenic massive sulphide occurrences. The Sanderson property covers a large ferrogabbro intrusion and possible footwall ultramafic intrusion, which is prospective for nickel-copper as well as chromite.

Noront is currently exploring for nickel-copper-PGM deposits along strike from its Eagle's Nest deposit. A number of prospective geophysical targets have been generated and drilling on one of the most compelling anomalies is in progress.

The company is drilling a geophysical anomaly identified at depth, which could represent a significant sulphide conductor. The anomaly is proximal to the Eagle's Nest deposit at a depth of approximately 750 meters.

Noront anticipates that mine construction at Eagle’s Nest will begin in 2018, resulting in first concentrate production in 2021.The operation is expected to have a mine life of 11-20 years and is projected to create 300 jobs, but is dependent on the construction of an all-season access road to the remote site.

The company is expecting the federal and provincial governments to make a joint announcement with local First Nations this year regarding plans for the road.

Noront plans to start the construction of its Blackbird chromite project once Eagle's Nest is in production. Since acquiring Cliffs' chromite deposits in 2015, Noront has become the majority owner of all current major chromite deposits in the Ring of Fire.

The initial phase of the company’s chromite development will leverage the infrastructure of the Eagle's Nest mine. This approach will enable economic development of high-grade ore from the Blackbird Chromite deposit, which is located close to Eagle's Nest.

The Blackbird mine is expected to produce approximately 500,000 tonnes of ore per year from underground. A ferrochrome smelter, which would be built for potential expansion, will be constructed at a yet to-be-determined brownfield site in Ontario. The chromite project has the potential to produce up to 200,000 tonnes per year of high quality ferrochrome, which represents roughly 50 per cent of current North American demand.

Larger scale chromite development supported by the Black Thor and Big Daddy deposits will follow, with a timeline that is dependent upon the seaborne ferrochrome market. The larger scale project has the potential to produce up to 1.5 million tonnes of concentrate and 600,000 tonnes of ferrochrome.