The Hecla-Kilmer property is located in the Moose River basin in northern Ontario, Canada. It is approximately 35 kilometres southwest of the Company’s Ranoke property, and only 23 km to the west of the Ontario hydro-electric facility at Otter Rapids, which also serves as the northern terminus of Highway 634 which links the region to the towns of Cochrane and Kapuskasing situated on the northern Trans-Canada Highway located some 100 km to the south.

The town of Moosonee located on tidewater at James Bay is located about 125 km to the northeast of the property. The Ontario Northern railway connects Moosonee with the mainline at Cochrane along the Trans Canada Highway, and runs through Otter Rapids 23 km east of the property.

Hecla-Kilmer is a large property. It comprises 224 tenure cells amalgamated into 10 mineral claims in one contiguous block covering 4,618 hectares in an area approximately 6 x 7 km in size.

The property is located on provincial crown land, with mineral rights administered by the provincial Ontario Ministry of Northern Development, Mines, Natural Resources and Forestry (“MNDM”). There are no annual lease payments, but the MNDM requires certain annual exploration expenditures and reporting (ie. mineral assessment reports) in order to maintain a mineral claim in good standing. The property falls within the traditional territories of the Moose Cree and Taykwa Tagamou First Nations.

The property is owned 100% by VR. There are no underlying annual lease payments to previous owners, nor are there any joint venture or back-in interests. There is an industry-standard royalty attached to the property, including a buy-back provision to VR.

Hecla-Kilmer is amenable for the effective use of modern exploration technologies for base and precious metal deposits. Near-by towns with road access facilitate cost-effective exploration. Subdued topography is optimal for airborne geophysical surveys such as EM and magnetics. Historic drilling demonstrates that overburden thickness is in the range of 40 – 70 m, average for the region and easily penetrated by modern drilling technology. Historic and recent drilling also demonstrates that the hydrothermal breccia system comes to surface, that is, to the base of overburden and till, making the use of geophysics effective for basement targets.

VR completed the compilation, synthesis and interpretation of all available federal and provincial government regional data, and archived provincial mineral exploration assessment data in the Hecla-Kilmer area, and integrated it with the Ranoke project database.

The Company completed the first-ever airborne EM survey ever over the H-K complex in June, 2020, using the state-of-the-art VTEM+ system of Geotech Ltd. Flown at 100 m line spacing over a 6 x 7 km survey block for a total of 450 line-km, the data provide a high resolution of detail. The Company also had an independent, 3-D inversion of both magnetic and EM data completed for improved modeling for a potential magnetite-fluorite hydrothermal breccia body within the multiphase carbonatite complex. The Company also utilized a pre-existing, high-resolution, fixed wing airborne magnetic survey completed in 1993 by High Sense Ltd. as part of a regional diamond exploration program to improve the magnetic modeling.

There are two prominent, high contrast and deeply rooted MVI anomalies (magnetic vectorization peaks) in the northern and central part of the Hecla-Kilmer complex. The northern MVI anomaly correlates with the largest and strongest basement conductor identified in the VTEM+ survey; the central MVI anomaly correlates with the strongest overall magnetic signature in the Analytic Signal product.

A detailed, ground-based gravity geophysical survey was completed in March, 2021. It covers an area of approximately 1.5 x 3.5 km, with 597 stations completed in total; 573 on an equant grid station spacing of 100 metres, and 24 done on a 50 m infill pattern covering the main anomaly after it had been outlined by completion of the main grid.

Overall, the survey was designed to: 1. cover the main RTP magnetic boundaries within the large and concentrically zoned multi-phase carbonatite complex at H-K, and; 2. cover the main MVI anomaly derived from the 3-D inversion completed by VR in 2020 using the 1993 airborne magnetic data. The goal is to identify high-density centers of mineralization based on the high density XRF profiles of mineralization obtained from the scanning of the 2020 drill holes HK20-002 and 004.

The survey produced a large and high contrast anomaly in the northwest part of the complex, as summarized in the news release dated May 5, 2021. Anomaly attributes include:

Large:	400 x 800m in size;
High amplitude:	3.5 mGal contrast to surrounding rock of the H-K complex;
Robust:	55 stations with no gaps within high density anomaly;
Structural Control:	Sharp boundaries define a dilational Riedel structure.

The gravity anomaly is co-spatial with, but offset from, the northern MVI magnetic anomaly.

An ultra – high resolution, state-of-the-art drone magnetic survey was flown in the fall of 2021, and expanded in March of 2022. The objective of the survey is to: 1. clearly define the external boundaries of the overall complex, and; 2. identify internal magnetic contacts and gradients that are discordant to the magnetic zonation related to the primary igneous emplacement history of the multiphase complex, and are therefore potential targets for secondary hydrothermal veins and breccia with critical metals.

The final survey now covers an area of approximately 3.4 x 4.5 km and comprises 121 survey lines at both 25 and 50 m line-spacing for a total of 410 line-km. The survey produces a very high resolution of data because of the tight line spacing, the low “tree-top” flight altitude of just 30 metres above ground, and a computerized flight control paired with a new, very high sensitivity potassium-vapour magnetometer.

Summary of Drilling

A total of 9,979 m of drilling has been completed in 24 drill holes in five programs:

Fall, 2020 . Target: Magnetic anomalies in 3-D MVI inversion model of regional data.

• 1,971 m completed in 4 drill holes ranging from 351 – 609 m each.

Fall, 2021 . Target: 3.4 mGal gravity anomaly, co-spatial with MVI magnetic anomaly.

• 2,604 m completed in 5 drill holes ranging from 468 – 561 m each.

Spring, 2022 . Target: new AS magnetic anomalies from high resolution drone survey.

• 2,751 m completed in 8 drill holes ranging from 249 – 378 m each.

Fall, 2022 . Target: delineate extensions of mineralization around Holes 13 and 15, respectively.

• 1,437 m completed in 5 drill holes ranging from 147 – 396 m each.

Spring, 2023 . Test structures around Holes 1, 2 and 13 at Pike Zone for extensions to known mineralization.

• 1,035 m completed in 3 drill holes ranging from 309 – 381 m each.

A summary map and summary table with data for the key intersections of critical metals in the 24 holes completed to date at Hecla-Kilmer are provided in the list of maps, figures and core photos on this Project Page . The geochemical data were obtained from a sodium peroxide fusion analytical technique designed to optimize the analytical detection for all of the rare earth elements.

First drill program, November, 2020 . Four drill holes on the northern MVI magnetic inversion anomaly, for a total of 1,971m. As announced on December 17^th, 2020, VR intersected a fluorite-carbonate hydrothermal breccia body and high temperature, potassic alteration system with sulfide which comes to bedrock surface, and has more than 500 m of vertical extent in two drill holes, HK20-002 and 004. Data from discovery Hole 004 were announced in NR-21-20 on October 26, 2021:

• 58 m @ 0.38% TREO, incl. 1.44 % TREO over 3.21 m, starting at 40m, the bedrock surface at the base of till.

Second drill program, November, 2021 . Five holes were completed for a total of 2,604 m, , targeting the 3.4 mGal gravity anomaly located on the western flank of the MVI magnetic anomaly that was targeted in 2020. Zones in the hydrothermal breccia with critical metals have high density profiles in XRF drill core scans, and thus provide a direct link between the gravity anomaly and prospective mineralization. A 299 m intersection of rare earth elements and niobium (REE + Nb) in Hole 5 was reported on Nov. 16^th in NR-21-22:

• 299.5 m @ 0.47 % TREO, starting near surface at 52 m depth, and including up to 1.70 % TREO over 3 m from 156 m, within 28 m of 0.80 % TREO from 152 m;

Third drill program, April of 2022 . A total of 2,751 m were completed in 8 drill holes ranging from 249 – 378 m each, to follow-up on the broad, polymetallic intersections of critical metals in 2020 and 2021 by using the analytic signal (“AS”) magnetic anomalies derived from the new, ultra – high resolution airborne drone survey as an indication of higher concentrations of hydrothermal magnetite. Assays were reported for Holes 10 and 11 in NR-22-07:

• 80 metres at 0.67% TREO within 131 metres at 0.41% TREO in Hole HK22-010;
• 13 metres at 0.94% TREO within 88 metres at 0.50% TREO in Hole HK22-011.

Individual one metre samples from the 13 metre intersection in Hole 11 contain up to 2.3% TREO, up to 39.1% Fe₂O₃, and up to 11.2% P₂O₅.

Assays were reported for Hole 13 in NR-22-08 on July 21^st:

• 243 metres @ 1.01 % TREO, of which 19% are PMREO, within 290 metres @ 0.91 % TREO starting at surface and continuous from top to bottom in Hole HK22-013, and including:
  • 65 metres at 1.66 % TREO, starting at 155 metres, and including:
    • 39 metres @ 2.01 % TREO starting at 155 metres.

1. The 65 metre interval of 1.66% TREO is made up of 24% Magnet REO (Nd, Pr, Dy, Tb);

2. The 15 metre interval with 2.14 % TREO contains 15.71% P₂O₅ and 13% Fe₂O₃.

In addition to the afore-mentioned mineralization, VR discovered two new areas with Critical Metals located 1.5 and 2.5 km to the south of Pike Zone, respectively, in the central core and south rim of the complex, as announced in NR22-10 on August 18, 2022. For example, on the south rim of the complex:

• 25.5 metres @ 1.131% TREO with 18% as Magnet REO^*, within 55.2 metres @ 0.70% TREO starting less than 30 metres from bedrock surface in Hole HK22-015.

Fourth drill program, November, 2022 . Five drill holes were completed for 1,437m. The goal of the fourth program was to complete additional drill holes into the two main areas with known higher grade critical metal mineralization around Hole 13 at Pike Zone and Hole 15 at South Rim in order to begin the assessment of their potential for mineral volume.

Hole 13 in the third drill program was extended to 504 m at the start of the fourth drill program. It is worth repeating the Hole 13 intersection announced in NR22-18 on January 17, 2023.

• Drill Hole HK22-013: 361 m @ 0.96 % TREO ⁽¹⁾, of which 20% are PMREO⁽²⁾ within 461 m @ 0.85 % TREO + 0.13% Nb₂O₅, starting at bedrock surface, and including:
  • 39 m @ 2.01 % TREO within 66.6 m @ 1.57 % TREO with 20% as PMREO.
  • The hole ends at 504 m with 2 m @ 2.84 % TREO and 1.1 g/t gold.
    Gold increases with TREO grades, and is associated with REE mineralization in monazite.

Salient features of the 461 m intersection of continuous REE mineralization in Hole 13 include:

• Mineralization starts at the bedrock surface, below an overburden of glacial till;
• Mineralization is continuous in nature, from bedrock surface to the end-of-hole at 504m;
• The REE mineralization remains open to depth, and is as strong as any REE interval higher in the 461 m intersection; there are no systematic changes down the hole in geology, density of carbonatite dykes and veins or intensity of potassic alteration;
• There are 49 one metre samples with > 2% TREO, and they span the entire 504m hole;
• The proportion of the high value PMREO does not vary from the range of 17-22% of TREO;
• Gold mineralization at the bottom of the hole correlates with a corresponding increase in REE mineralization, and is part of the same polymetallic fluid system.

High grade mineralization at the South Rim zone located some 2.5 km to the south of the Pike Zone was also confirmed and extended, as reported in NR23-002 on January 23, 2023.

• Drill Hole HK22-020: 212 m of continuous mineralization at 0.7% TREO with 17 % PMREO, with one metre samples up to 2.7% TREO⁽¹⁾ with 28.5% PMREO⁽²⁾, and including 48 m @ 1.0 % TREO with 19% PMREO at the end of the hole, and open to depth.

Fifth drill program, May, 2023 . Three drill holes were completed for 1,035 metres in three different areas of REE critical metal mineralization at Pike Zone, around Holes 001, 002 and Hole 013 respectively. Broad intersections with carbonatite dykes and vein breccia were obtained in two of the three new drill holes. In detail, and most significantly:

• there are six vein and vein breccia zones with > 1% TREO in hole 024 Pike Zone.

Mineralogy . VR reported preliminary SEM results for REE mineralogy at Hecla-Kilmer on February 14, 2023, in NR23-004, and again on October 17^th in NR23-020 based on a more fulsome study by SGS on a bulk sample derived from the main, 361 m intersection of continuous REE mineralization in Hole 013.

The preliminary mineralogy data are from an electron microprobe (EMPA) equipped with an Energy Dispersive Spectrometer (EDS). The work was completed by Renaud Geological Consulting Ltd. (RGC) based in London, Ontario, who have extensive experience on REE deposits in Canada. Six samples were submitted, designed to span the 500 metres of vertical extent of REE mineralization in Hole 13 at Pike Zone, and mineralization in Hole 015 located 2.5 km to the south at South Rim Zone.

Crushed drill core assay rejects from the 461 metre intersection of continuous REE mineralization in Hole 013 were submitted to the SGS Lakefield laboratory in Ontario in May as a bulk sample for a mineralogical, beneficiation and metallurgical study. SGS is a recognized world leader in mineralogical and metallurgical studies on REE mineral systems. The intersection used for the bulk sample includes:

• 361 m @ 0.96 % TREO(1) of which 20% are PMREO(2) and 2% P₂O₅ and including
• 39 m @ 2.01 % TREO with 22% as PMREO.

The new chemical data on apatite are from TESCAN Integrated Mineral Analyzer (TIMA) analyses. Eight initial representative samples spanning the 361 metres of REE mineralization were crushed, sorted and analyzed with TIMA for elemental and mineral mapping of grains ahead of beneficiation studies. Key results include:

• The mineralogy shows that 80% of the REEs are contained within the phosphate mineral apatite, with the remainder hosted in monazite, a phosphate, and parisite-synchysite, fluorocarbonates, which themselves occur most commonly as fine grained inclusions in apatite.
• Apatite crystals contain around 80% of all REE mineralization at H-K, with an average concentration of 7.3% TREO;
• Over 75% of remaining REE mineralization occurs as small inclusions of monazite and parasite within apatite vein crystals and in apatite-fenite wallrock alteration;
• Permanent magnet REEs (PMREO) are up to 25% of TREO in the apatite, which is also enriched in neodymium compared to the finer grained REE-bearing minerals monazite and parisite;
• Carbonatites are a source of pure, clean magmatic phosphate used in electric vehicle batteries, and the apatite in the 461 m intersection in Hole 13 averages 37 wght% P₂O₅, starting at surface.

The results underscore the volume potential for REEs at Hecla-Kilmer based on the sheer breadth of phosphate intersections containing REEs, as shown on the satellite image in the Maps section of this Project Page . Importantly:

• The new REE mineralogy from the bulk sample does not change from bedrock surface to 461 m depth at Pike Zone:
• The new REE mineralogy at Pike Zone is consistent with mineralization at the South Rim Zone located 2.5 km to the south.

The new and detailed mineralogy is entirely consistent with results obtained from all of the state-of-the-art technologies which VR has utilized from the very beginning of its exploration at H-K, starting in 2020, in order to better understand and document the character of the REE mineralization, including:

1. QEMSCAN analyses in 2020 by SGS Canada, Lakefield, which determined the styles of mineralization and alteration, and confirmed the role of the phosphate minerals monazite and apatite as the primary hosts for the PMREO;
2. Whole-core XRF scanning on site in 2021 by GeologicAI of Calgary, which improved real-time decision making for drilling and confirmed the correlation between TREO and P₂O₅;
3. Lithium-borate fusion to optimize REE detection in drill core geochemical samples from 2020 through 2023, which demonstrated a nearly perfect, 1:1 correlation coefficient between P₂O₅ and TREO in more than 4,600 samples from all 24 drill holes.

SGS also reports that the 5-7 weight % REE contained in apatite at H-K is unique, even amongst other igneous deposits mined for phosphate in apatite. Further, the igneous apatite at H-K is pristine compared to the apatite in the world's sedimentary deposits mined for phosphate.

Canada is plagued with REE discoveries made during the past 60 years that have never been developed because of the difficulty in extracting and recovering REE’s contained in silicate and/or refractory minerals; the REE mineralogy at Hecla-Kilmer related to phosphate and fluorcarbonate minerals is a clear distinction.

Summary of Key Attributes of REE mineralization at H-K

The discovery process at Hecla-Kilmer began with REE mineralization discovered at surface at Pike Zone in Hole 4 of the very first program in the fall of 2020. VR has intersected mineralized REE intervals with > 1% TREO in 18 of 24 drill holes completed to date, with a proportion of TREO as PMREO from 18-21 %, and up to 24%.

The lateral and vertical extent of the REE hydrothermal vein breccia and host fenite alteration system is significant. For example, at just the Pike Zone:

• 243m @ 1.01% TREO in Hole 013, within 461 m of continuous mineralization @ 0.9% TREO;
• Continuous mineralization spans 461 vertical metres in Hole 013;
• Mineralization starts at bedrock surface at the base of till;
• Mineralization spans more than 1,000 m along the controlling north-south fault at Pike Zone;
• Mineralization in Holes 5 and 11 spans a width of more than 250 metres on either side of the controlling north-south fault;
• There is mineral potential along more than 1,200 m of strike on the offsetting, east-west fault which focuses veins, dykes, breccia and mineralization in Holes 11, 14, and 17.

The importance of the high proportion of the four PMREO’s in REE mineralization at Hecla-Kilmer is worth re-emphasizing. This ratio is important because of the high price of the PMREOs, such as neodymium and terbium, in response to the demand for permanent magnets in electric vehicles and wind turbines. That demand-based value is amplified by scarcity; that is, they are absent from most REE carbonatite deposits globally. For comparison, published resources for most Canadian LREE deposits in carbonatite typically contain between 12-15% PMREO of TREO, which is roughly 40% lower than the 19-22% proportion on average at H-K, and up to 24% in Hole 13.

The polymetallic nature of mineralization at H-K is also important. The intersection of 0.27% Nb over 80 metres in Hole 10 compliments the 237 metres @ 0.2% Nb in Hole 5 from last year, with TREO of 0.5 - 0.67 % on average across both of the broad intersections, and up to 2.3% locally.

Phosphate is also abundant, and related directly to the REE mineralization process. The correlation coefficient is a nearly perfect at 1:1 between P205 and %PMREO in ICP-MS geochemical data from greater than 4,600 geochemical samples from all 24 drill holes completed to date. Carbonatites worldwide are a source of pure, clean magmatic phosphate used in electric vehicle batteries, and the apatite in the 461 m intersection in Hole 13 averages 37% P₂O₅, it starts at surface, it is coarse-grained, and it is crystalographically pure. These results underscore the volume potential of the polymetallic system at Hecla-Kilmer based simply on the sheer breadth of phosphate intersections containing REE+Nb, as shown on the satellite image on this Project Page .

Geological Summary of REE Mineralization in Drill Core

VR has discovered critical metals mineralization within a large fluorapatite-magnetite hydrothermal breccia and carbonatite vein and dyke system hosted within a ultra-high temperature, calc-potassic and potassic alteration system with sulfide which comes to surface, and has more than 500 m of known vertical extent.

Drill core photographs with examples of the style of mineralization and alteration which hosts the REE’s are shown at the end of the list of maps and photographs which follow this text summary.

Key geological attributes in drill core to date include:

• High temperature alteration assemblages completely overprint and/or replace original, alkaline and ultrabasic rocks ranging from essexite and ijolite to nepheline syenite, and including a myriad of more evolved dyke phases, including phoscorite and sovite carbonatite compositions, nepheline syenite porphyry and phonolite;
• Critical metal mineralization is most commonly associated with phoscorite dykes, ultramafic rocks comprising magnetite, apatite and either forsterite, diopside or phlogopite, and almost always associated with carbonatites. At H-K they are fluorapatite -rich hydrothermal breccia that varies depending on alteration facies noted below. The key minerals which host the REE’s include fluorapatite, monazite, bastnaesite, and parasite/synchisite, with the niobium contained in pyrochlore;
• A north-south fault controls hydrothermal fluids and separates calc-potassic and potassic alteration mineral assemblages. Calc-potassic alteration is dominated by amphibole and pyroxene with REE minerals found in medium grain calcite-apatite veins, and potassic alteration is dominated by coarse magnetite, biotite, apatite veins and intense biotite fenitization of wall rock. Both alteration facies come to surface, with the later potassic alteration being closely related to high-grade REE mineralization;
• Phonolite dykes are abundant and commonly have elevated in gold, with 15-184 ppb gold over several + 40 metre intervals in drill hole HK20-002 located on the north-south fault which controls hydrothermal fluids and separates different alteration facies.

More generally:

• Pyrite, pyrrhotite, marcasite and lesser chalcopyrite occur as seams and clots in fluorite-calcite veins and poly-lithic hydrothermal breccia, and as disseminated grains in carbonatite dykes. There are assays in 1m samples of up to 0.12% Cu (1240 ppm) in zones of intense fenitization (potassic alteration);
• Late stage alkaline magmatism, characterized by aphanitic ijolite to phonolite porphyry dykes are believed to be the overall driver of the intense hydrothermal alteration, brecciation and mineralization represented by sovite/phoscorite veins and dykes with variable fluorapatite, apatite and carbonate veins throughout all of the drill holes at H-K.

The Hecla-Kilmer property is centered on a large magnetic anomaly co-spatial with regional gravity features which occur along the western margin of the Kapuskasing Structural Zone (“KSZ”), a Proterozoic failed rift and a long-lived, crustal-scale fault zone with bisects the Archean Superior craton between James Bay and Lake Superior in a complex, northeast-southwest trending failed rift zone of uplifted, high grade metamorphic rocks. There is believed to be more than 20 kilometres of vertical crustal displacement along the KSZ.

The KSZ hosts numerous alkaline, ultrabasic and carbonatite intrusions, kimberlite and lamprophyre which span more than 1.7 billion years of activity, to as recently as 128 million years ago. This tectonic setting is prospective for the development of a large IOCG – IOA, and/or carbonatite-hosted hydrothermal breccia systems with critical metals, copper and gold.

Importantly, H-K was emplaced along the KSZ where it intersects a regional-scale tectonic suture between two sub-provinces of the Archean Superior Craton; the volcanic-dominated Wabigoon province to the north, and the sediment-dominated Quetico province to the south. North of the Wabigoon, the gneissic crystalline basement of metamorphosed sedimentary assemblages and lesser volcano-plutonic complexes of the English River sub-Province is believed to be the thickest part of the Archean Superior craton.

Hecla-Kilmer is a large, roughly circular and concentrically zoned multiphase alkaline intrusive complex with carbonatite approximately 4 – 6 km across. Magnetic boundaries within the complex are sharply defined on RTP, 1VD and 2VD products from both regional and property-scale airborne surveys. In general, exterior magnetic highs rim a central magnetic low in the core of the complex that is coarse, unaltered nepheline syenite. The concentric magnetic patterns evident within the complex are disrupted by northwesterly and northeasterly trending lineaments and/or structures.

The inferred age of Hecla-Kilmer is Proterozoic, based on both early and late Proterozoic age dates for other alkaline intrusions on the KSZ.

The Ontario Geological Survey published cursory petrographic and whole rock geochemical data for the complex in 1988 based on pieces of core obtained from historic drilling in 1970, as described below in the following section. Overall, the H-K complex is cored by a large body of coarse-grained nepheline syenite which intrudes a myriad of ultrabasic marginal phases including olivine gabbro, essexite, ijolite and pyroxenite, with an abundance of more evolved carbonatite dykes of sovite and phoscorite composition, nepheline syenite porphyry dykes, and late phonolite and lamprophyre dykes.

The Hecla-Kilmer complex forms the bedrock surface at the base of the overlying overburden of glacial till. It occurs immediately south of the Paleozoic Hudson Platform, a warm and shallow marine carbonate shelf succession deposited in Silurian through Devonian time on the predominantly Archean basement of the northern Superior Craton. In-turn, the Moose River successor basin formed within the KSZ in Cretaceous time, covering Paleozoic rocks along the southern margin of the shelf in a shallow basin less than 50 kilometres across.

Regional Exploration History

Prior to VR, there has been no modern, systematic exploration or drilling of the multiphase alkaline igneous complex with carbonatite at Hecla-Kilmer for a fluorite-magnetite hydrothermal vein and breccia system. The opportunity for VR is to be the first to apply modern IOCG-IOA and carbonatite mineral deposit models to H-K, and the first to use modern exploration technologies to improve the explore for REE’s, critical metals, and copper and gold.

Hecla-Kilmer is at the southeastern margin of the mid-Paleozoic Hudson shelf, a shallow marine carbonate shelf success from Ordovician to Devonian age, with local sandstone and evaporate facies. The shelf formed directly on crystalline basement rock. The Moose River sub-basin developed on the southeastern-most margin of the shelf where Devonian strata. It is a small successor basin less than 50 kilometres across and preserved as finely laminated and poorly indurated mudstone and siltstone which formed in the area of the present day Moose River, immediately to the north of Hecla-Kilmer. These Devonian and Cretaceous strata in the Moose River area were deposited on a gneissic crystalline basement of metamorphosed sedimentary assemblages and lesser volcano-plutonic complexes of the Archean English River domain in what is believed to be the thickest part of the Superior craton in northern Canada.

Historic exploration in the Moose River Basin region has been hindered by limited access, and a complete lack of outcrop in the lowland terrain that is covered by a regional blanket of glacial till. Archean VMS and Proterozoic orogenic gold deposits occur in the surrounding sub-provinces of the Superior craton, but there are no historic or currently active base metal or precious metal mines in the Moose River Basin.

The Moose River region has a long and varied, if not sporadic checkerboard history of mineral exploration during the past 100 years.

Overall, Cretaceous coal seams were the focus at the turn of the previous century, the basement unconformity at the base of the Paleozoic shelf was the focus for base metal exploration in the 1970’s, and there was active diamond exploration through the 1980’s and 90’s, extending and eventually focusing in the region west of James Bay at Attawapiskat located some 350 km to the north of Hecla-Kilmer, off the western shores of Hudson Bay.

There are lignite occurrences exposed in the banks of the Abitibi River north of Coral Rapids. The coal seams were first studied in detail by the Geological Survey between 1871 and 1912. They extend westward from the Abitibi River within the confines the Cretaceous Moose River Basin. More than one hundred shallow drill holes were completed by the Ontario Department of Mines between 1926 and 1930 to evaluate the resource, leading ultimately to the completion of two shafts and some 389 metres of interconnecting drifts. Drilling resumed in the early 1950’s with the completion of an additional 182 holes. In 1981, the Ontario Energy Corporation re-visited the potential of the coal and evaluated lignite stratigraphy farther to the west. Hundreds of shallow drill holes were completed on a lease which exceeded 1 million acres.

The Aquitane Company of Canada Ltd. completed airborne and ground geophysics between 1972 and 1974 to evaluate the hydro-carbon potential of Paleozoic strata, and twelve diamond drill holes to test for base metals at the basement unconformity, and MVT-style mineralization in the overlying limestone. In 1978, Kerr-Addison Mines complete a series of reverse circulation drill holes near Coral Rapids to test exposed basal sandstone at the eastern edge of the Hudson Platform for uranium. These targets were re-visited and re-tested in 2006.

Six diamond drill holes were completed at Hecla-Kilmer by Ashland Oil and Elgin Petroleum in 1970, as part of a regional base metal exploration program. One hole was abandoned, and a scant 854 m were completed in five other holes, all on magnetic highs in the outer zones of the H-K complex. Importantly, this historic drilling showed that the H-K carbonatite complex comes to bedrock surface at the base of till, typically around 40m depth, with no intervening Paleozoic or Cretaceous sedimentary strata.

Diamonds were the focus of modern mineral exploration in the James Bay region. Exploration started in the 1960’s by DeBeers (Monoprose Canada), focused initially in the Attawapiskat River region well to the north of the Moose River Basin, and built on the pioneering regional aeromagnetic program of the Geological Survey of Canada. Ongoing and extensive regional till and alluvium heavy mineral sampling and high-resolution magnetic surveys through the late 1980’s eventually led to the discovery of numerous kimberlite pipes, including Victor.

Selection Trust (later named Selco Exploration Company) began alluvial sampling in the KSZ region in 1962, and were joined by Esso Minerals in 1979. The first composite kimerlite – lamprophyry dyke was drilled in 1967, followed by drilling of the Valentine carbonatite complex in 1969. Between 1979 and 1983, the Selco – Esso partnership completed regional heavy mineral sampling of till and alluvium over an area exceeding 100,000 hectares, and an aeromagnetic program launched in 1980 led to the identification of numerous post-Paleozoic, pipe-like anomalies, of which 45 were drill-tested; most were non- copper-bearing, ultra-basic and alkaline intrusions, and four were kimberlite-facies diatremes.

Selco completed two drill holes on magnetic highs peripheral to Hecla-Kilmer during their regional kimberlite exploration program. The two holes intersected altered, variably magnetic, dark green and dark red breccia with pervasive secondary chlorite and biotite respectively, disseminated sulfide, and mottled pink granitoid clasts with alteration rims. The mafic breccia is pervaded by a chaotic network of carbonate veins and carbonate-lined fractures in both holes.

Regional-scale exploration in the KSZ - Moose River Basin region waned after 1983. Various small-scale airborne magnetic surveys and ground-based EM surveys, and local alluvium sampling programs were completed at the property-scale between 1983 and 2006, with the focus mostly on previously known, ultra-basic and alkaline intrusions and diatremes exposed at surface in and around Coral rapids, but also on limestone for industrial mineral applications.

A regional-scale but high-resolution airborne magnetic survey was flown for diamond exploration in 1993, extending southwest from James Bay. The survey shows clearly that Hecla-Kilmer is a concentrically zoned, high contrast magnetic anomaly 4 – 6 km across. Easterly and northwesterly trending structures disrupt magnetic and gravity patterns within the complex.

The historic drilling at H-K in 1970 was done before the high-resolution magnetic survey was flown for diamond exploration in the early 1990’s, and before the development of IOCG-IOA mineral deposit models. This helps to explain why all five holes at H-K in 1970 were located in the outer concentric zones of the complex, why they were terminated at very shallow depth, and why there is no record of geochemical sampling or geochemical data in hydrothermal breccia with fluorite and sulfide which are documented in the drill logs.

Some 40 years later, VR has taken the opportunity to be the first company to apply new exploration technologies and modern mineral deposit models to explore the region for large footprint mineral systems in the presence of both tectonic suture boundaries related to the amalgamation of the Archean Superior craton, and the Kapuskasing Structural Zone, a Proterozoic failed rift and host to a myriad of intrusions and hydrothermal and volcanic breccia bodies which span some 1.6 billion years of earth history.