Sample drilling will start mid-June and wrap up in early August as part of the mystery mineral claims in the Southeast.

An Alberta company originally named 1824455 Alberta Ltd, then changed to 1993502 Alberta Ltd, and now renamed to HD Minerals Ltd has acquired 452 mineral claims over the last couple years. The claims cover a vast 120,328 hectares of land in several municipalities in the southeast including Hanover, La Broquerie, Springfield, Tache, and Ste. Anne.

Spokesperson Donovan Toews says his company, Landmark Planning and Design, is helping HD Minerals Ltd communicate their exploration process. Toews notes Friesen Drillers in Steinbach has been contracted to drill 10 to 15 boreholes in an area just southeast of Anola (as shown in photo). 

"We had local meetings with anyone who was interested in participating," he notes. "We sent out a notice to everyone in the area where HD Minerals Ltd would like to have a borehole. Then we connected HD Minerals Ltd with the homeowner and, if they came to an arrangement in terms of financial compensation for allowing people on their property, then HD Minerals Ltd would come over and drill the borehole."

Toews notes the drilling process is quite simple, after an agreement with the landowner is reached a drill rig spends one or two days on site, drills boreholes through all layers of ground, and collects samples throughout. He says crews tidy up the area when they leave and the samples are sent off to a lab where they are tested for mineral content.

He says HD Minerals Ltd has chosen to not disclose what they're looking for at this time due to the competitive nature of the industry. However, Toews adds the company is looking for more than one thing and they have their priorities on that list.

Toews notes, if the company decides the findings are worthwhile in the area it may take another two to three years before acquiring environmental approvals and being able to go forward with extracting minerals or starting a mine. He adds if they decide their findings are not worthwhile in the tested area, they will move on to another area and sample drill again to continue their exploration.

Read More:
Mystery Mineral Interrupting Subdivision Development
Hanover Possibly Sitting On Nickel
Mystery Mineral Becoming More Clear

Yellow spaces represent mining lease claims by HD Minerals Ltd. (Photo credit: Province of Manitoba)