Voyageur Pharmaceuticals Ltd. (TSX-V: VM) announced the submission of a Multi-Year Area-Based Notice of Work application to the British Columbia Ministry of Mining and Critical Minerals for its Frances Creek barite project. The application seeks authorization for a five-year advanced exploration program on a 76.8-hectare work area, including exploration trenching, access trail development, processing area construction, and a mine rock storage facility, primarily on previously disturbed forestry land.
The proposed Year 1 program includes extraction of 2,000 tonnes of high-grade barite ore (specific gravity 4.5) from the A and B Zones, within the annual limit of 1,000 tonnes per cell under the Mineral Tenure Act. The barite will be processed on site using dry densimetric technology to produce an initial concentrate, which will be shipped to the company's future facility for further upgrading to meet USP specifications for pharmaceutical-grade barium contrast agents.
The application also includes a geotechnical drilling program to provide rock mechanics and slope stability data required to finalize quarry pit wall designs and waste rock storage configurations. This data is the primary remaining requirement to complete a NI 43-101 Final Feasibility Study, building on the company's 2022 Preliminary Economic Assessment and a Pre-Feasibility Study currently in progress.
"This Notice of Work submission is a significant de-risking milestone," said Brent Willis, CEO of Voyageur Pharmaceuticals. "The Year 1 test extraction will generate material required to advance process development and validation at our pilot plant. The geotechnical program will enable us to progress the project to Final Feasibility Study level."
Recent testing confirmed the Frances Creek barite purity exceeds 97.5% Pharmaceutical Grade, averaging 98.8% BaSO4. The project hosts an indicated and inferred mineral resource of 132,000 tonnes of pharmaceutical-grade barium sulfate. The 2022 PEA outlined a low-cost open-pit development scenario with initial capital of $36 million, a payback period of 11 months, and average operating gross margins of approximately 75%.
All activities will be conducted in accordance with the Mines Act and Health, Safety and Reclamation Code for Mines in British Columbia, with progressive reclamation planned. The NI 43-101 PEA is preliminary in nature; a Pre-Feasibility Study is in progress and will provide updated information.
Voyageur Pharmaceuticals is developing barium and iodine Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients and aims to become vertically integrated in the contrast media market. The company owns a 100% interest in the Frances Creek project and believes its natural barite can replace synthetic products with higher quality, lower cost imaging agents.
