Canada Fluorspar renames Grebes Nest vein in memory of founding shareholder

Canada Fluorspar (CVE:CFI) (OTC:CNDFF) has renamed its new vein discovery at its Grebes Nest property to the "AGS Vein", in memory of the company's founding shareholder, Arthur Gordon Stollery. 

The company made the announcement of the name change, from the previous "Grebes Nest Vein", in a statement released Monday. 

Stollery, which was born in Ontario and passed away suddenly in December 2011, was the founding shareholder of Canada Fluorspar, and was instrumental, the company said, in the acquisition of the mineral and mining rights to its St. Lawrence project from the government of Newfoundland and Labrador, back in 1995. 

The AGS vein is part of the company's St. Lawrence fluorspar project in Newfoundland, and lies about 4 km from the former Tarefare mine and less than 6 km from the former Blue Beach North mine. Probable Reserves of the Blue Beach North and Tarefare veins total approximately 5.4 million tonnes at an average grade of 39.8% fluorspar, according to the Canadian company's statement. 

"We believe that the name change is a fitting tribute to the man who founded the company and believed additional fluorspar was on the property," said president and CEO Lindsay Gorrill in the release. "The significance of this find to the company cannot be understated and helps serve as a confirmation of Gordon's geological vision of the abundance of fluorspar on the property."

The company has 41 known mineralized veins on its fluorspar assets in St. Lawrence, two of which – Blue Beach and Tarefare - have been drilled and vended into a partnership with French chemical giant Arkema, while drill rigs started working at its own Director Vein in January, later moving on to Grebes Nest - now known as AGS. The Canadian company is looking to unlock the potential value of these veins this year through drilling. 

Historic mining operations on the St. Lawrence property produced more than 4.2 million tonnes of fluorspar during a 44 year continuous production from 1942 to 1977. Production resumed in 1986 and continued until 1991, when St. Lawrence Fluorspar reopened the nearby Blue Beach North Mine and processed 440,000 tonnes of ore from small open pits, one of which was located in a surface pillar at the Director Mine near the main shaft.  

Stollery, whose estate remains a major shareholder of Canada Fluorspar, was active in securing a partner to re-open the mines and mill at St. Lawrence, attempting to bring it on stream again. Throughout his career, he was a director and senior exec of a number of private and public mining and oil and gas companies. 

Canada Fluorspar recently reported the seventh set of results from its phase three diamond drilling program on the AGS vein, saying the results give "reasonable" confidence that the structure hosting the mineralization will be found on surface, and along strike. According to the St. Johns-based company, ground geophysical survey results indicate that the mineralized structure has the potential to extend for more than 4,000 metres along strike.

Shares of the company on Monday rose more than 9.6 per cent to 17 Canadian cents on the TSX Venture Exchange.