In its early stages, exploration is often done by mapping and prospecting rocks at the surface which are called outcrops. In the Ring of Fire there are very few outcrops which makes exploration challenging.
When no outcrops are exposed, exploration is typically done through geophysical surveys followed by diamond drilling. Diamond drills are large, heavy and moved by helicopter which takes a lot of time and money. We needed an affordable, lower impact method to “prospect” interesting geophysical targets, so we got creative and decided to use Rotary Air Blast (RAB) drilling—a first in the Ring of Fire.
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This summer we will begin exploring our McFaulds Lake property for the first time since acquiring it from Cliffs two years ago.
This is particularly exciting as McFaulds Lake hosts several copper-zinc deposits which were part of the initial Ring of Fire discoveries made back in 2002. These deposits were put aside when a large nickel-copper-PGE discovery was made at Eagle’s Nest in 2007, followed by numerous chromite discoveries between 2007 and 2011. Continue Reading 
Earlier this year, we did something very special in partnership with Marten Falls First Nation (MFFN). On April 12, together we signed an agreement that defines how the first mine in the Ring of Fire will be developed.
This Exploration and Project Advancement Agreement serves several important purposes:
It provides Marten Falls First Nation (MFFN) with compensation for work taking place on their traditional land. 
By Camp Foreman, Veikko Wennstrom
Hauling fuel is a reality of mining in Northern Ontario. Winter is the best time to do this, because we can build an ice strip that can handle a larger plane. Winter planes can carry up to three times more than the float planes we use in summer.
We start in early winter by plowing the ice at Koper Lake to make it thicker. Once the ice reaches 26 inches, we start flying in fuel. 
It's been a busy few months as we executed Phase One of our winter exploration program.
We began by retrieving drill core from our McFaulds copper-zinc VMS property and bringing it back to Esker Camp for analysis — no small task we can assure you! We hadn’t had an opportunity to review this core since we acquired the project from Cliffs in 2015. Now that we have it, our geologists are busy re-logging the core to better understand the geology of the deposits. 
Welcome to Eagle’s Eye, a community newsletter & blog we plan to publish every few months about what’s happening as we make progress developing the Ring of Fire.
We get emails and calls every day from people who want to know "what’s going on?", so we’re going to fill you in on what’s up, who’s involved and why we are choosing to do certain things. You’ll see employee interviews—beginning in this issue with a profile of Esker Camp Cook and Medic, Norma Achneepineskum—activity and exploration updates, project news and lots of photos. 
As the saying goes, many minds are better than one. With this in mind, our Exploration Team met with three of the mining industry's most highly-regarded experts for a special strategy session in Toronto last November.
Over several days, the group examined Noront's geological and geophysical data to determine the best areas to explore for additional massive sulfide mineralization of nickel-copper-platinum group metals around our Eagle’s Nest and Sanderson properties, and copper-zinc mineralization on our McFauld’s and Butler properties. 
Last November students from Marten Falls and Webequie First Nations participated in DAREarts' First Roots program, which uses the arts to teach young people challenged by life circumstances how to unlock their potential and become leaders.
Webequie traditional teacher, Bill Jacob explains why this is important, "Our youth need to learn how to turn to traditional and other positive support systems to help them take care of themselves during times of stress."