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Gold was first discovered in the Courageous Lake area in the early 1940's by Dr. W. Brown, who was
working for Territorial Exploration Limited. The Tundra deposit was discovered in 1944 and the Salmita
deposit in 1947, both of which are part of the Courageous Lake property. The Geological Society of Canada
carried out regional geological mapping in the area from 1944 to 1980. The Tundra Gold Mine went into
production in 1964 and operated about four years. During the 1990s, Royal Oak Mines briefly reopened
the Tundra Mine. Total reported production from the Tundra Mine was 122,000 ounces of gold. During 1984
to 1989, the nearby Salmita Mine produced 209,000 tonnes averaging 27.2 grams per metric tonne (183,000
ounces).
In 1980, Noranda Exploration Limited carried out a drilling program to evaluate a frost heaved felsic volcanic
unit that was discovered by prospectors working for Noranda. This activity resulted in the discovery of
two gold deposits, the Tundra Deposit (Main Zone) or FAT Zone, and the Carbonate Zone. In 1982, Noranda entered into a joint venture agreement
enabling Getty Canadian Metals Ltd. to earn a 49% interest in the Courageous Lake property by funding exploration
and development with Noranda as the operator. In 1987, Total Energold purchased Getty Canadian Metals Ltd.
and acquired its 49% interest in the Tundra Joint Venture.
In 1988, Noranda sank a 475-meter shaft on the Main Tundra Zone with the objective of testing the continuity
and grade of gold mineralization within the previously identified zone. The results of this program did not
meet Noranda's expectations, and no further work was done on the underground development. Noranda estimated
a global gold resource of about 3.6 million ounces and an underground resource of about 737,000 ounces. In
1992, Noranda consolidated its Hemlo Gold unit with Battle Mountain Gold and began operating the Tundra
Joint Venture as Battle Mountain Gold.
In 1996, Battle Mountain Gold merged with Newmont Gold Corporation thereby transferring 51% ownership of
the Tundra Joint Venture to Newmont. In 1997, Placer Dome Exploration (PDX) optioned this 51% interest from Newmont
with the concept of developing a bulk mineable surface deposit. PDX completed 13,345 meters of drilling and
other basic exploration work. Based on their work along with the previous data collected by Noranda, PDX
estimated a global resource for the Courageous Lake property of 5.9 million ounces of gold.
During 2003, Seabridge designed and executed a work program on the Courageous Lake property with the
goal of evaluating and prioritizing potential gold targets. Four targets were developed, South FAT Extension,
Olsen Lake Target, Walsh Lake Target and Salmita Mine Target. These targets were selected as those that represent
the highest probability to develop new resources for the project.
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