My inbox is full of news from junior companies about their exploration efforts across the country. Despite financing difficulties, lots of drills are turning. So many drills that I will have to sort through the list over two days. Part One (today) will look at a selection of gold hunters, and Part Two (Monday) will look at other mineral projects.
Duncastle Gold has received high-grade gold and silver results from its Yankee-Dundee project in the southeast. A 1.8-metre interval (true thickness) averaged 14.4 g/t Au and 73.3 g/t Ag within a longer 11.5-metre interval that averaged 3.74 g/t Au and 20.3 g/t Ag. Drilling also encountered a silver intercept of 1,508 g/t Ag and 1.1 g/t Au over 1.0 metre (true thickness).
Hawthorne Gold and its partner Eureka Resources have significant intercepts from last year's 10,405-metre drill program at the Frasergold property in the Caribou Gold District. Hole 319 cut 2.08 metres at 47.36 g/t Au, and hole 354 cut 4.38 metres at 63.05 g/t Au. Additional soil sampling has identified a highly anomalous zone 1,000 metres northwest of the Main zone.
Silver Standard Resources has updated the resource at its Snowfield project. The figure is now 4.4 million oz measured and indicated plus 14.3 million oz inferred. Using a 0.5 g/t cutoff, the measured tonnage is 31.9 million tonnes at 1.49 g/t; the indicated material is 102.8 million tonnes at 0.86 g/t; and the inferred portion is 661.8 million tonnes at 1.83 g/t. There are also more than a billion pounds of copper and 116.7 million lb of molybdenum at the property.
If you like bonanza grades, you'll like the intersection that graded 256.00 g/t Au over 0.96 metres from the Freegold Mountain project of Northern Freegold Resources. That intersection was part of a 4.00-metre interval that averaged 68.95 g/t. Earlier reported assays included 70.19 g/t over 9.36 metres. The mineralization also contains copper.
Drilling by Northgate Minerals and Rimfire Minerals at the Boulevard property returned gold grades in five of the seven holes. The drill program followed up on a trenching discovery made in the summer of 2008, and core assayed 1.00 g/t over 1.80 metres, 0.90 g/t over 18.00 metres, 0.80 g/t over 4.20 metres and 0.50 g/t over 5.50 metres.
Alto Ventures has multiple gold projects on the go: Three Towers, Mud Lake Expansion Lake, Greenoaks and Cote Archie Lake in the Beardmore-Geraldton area; Coldstream in the Shebandowan Greenstone Belt; and Empress in the Schreiber-Hemlo Greenstone Belt. The company says it is cautiously planning its 2009 exploration program.
Claude Resources has an ambitious program planned at its Madsen property in Red Lake. Phase One calls for 12,000 metres of underground drilling from the 10th level. Phase Two, scheduled for the second half of 2009, will include 10,000 metres of infill drilling at the Eight zone. The company also plans 13,000 metres of surface drilling. Meanwhile, dewatering of the Madsen shaft continues.
Detour Gold has released the latest infill drilling results from its Detour Lake property. The best uncut intervals include 15.09 g/t over 11.00 metres in the Calcite zone; 8.53 g/t over 14.00 metres in the Gap zone; and 9.17 g/t over 18.7 metres in the West pit. A feasibility study is to be completed later this year.
Ginguro Exploration has been drilling its Minnitaki gold property near Sioux Lookout. Significant gold intercepts were made over a 1.45 km strike length. Two styles of gold mineralization – shear zones that host quartz veins and areas of tensional-style quartz veining with hydrothermal alteration – have been identified. The best core assay was 5.88 g/t over 2.09 metres including 12.10 g/t over 0.52 metres.
Recent drilling at the Timmins gold deposit of Golden Hope Mines returned 3.48 g/t over 8.00 metres, 3.42 g/t Au over 4.00 metres, 2.32 g/t over 4.00 metres and 2.26 g/t over 2.00 metres. Additional stripping, drilling, mapping and sampling is planned.
Drilling at the South mine complex by Kirkland Lake Gold continues to return excellent results. Holes in the New South Central zone have assayed 75.76 g/t uncut over 3.78 metres (true width) including 403.82 g/t over 0.30 metres and 49.71 g/t over 1.40 metres. At least two new hanging wall zones have also been intersected.
Kodiak Exploration continues to drill its Hercules property in the Beardmore-Geraldton camp. Highlights of the latest five drill hole assays include 5.40 metres grading 20.03 g/t, 6.30 metres grading 6.89 g/t (including 0.30 metres at 53.80 g/t with visible gold), 2.30 metres grading 10.11 g/t, 0.40 metres grading 75.30 g/t, and 1.30 metres grading 17.00 g/t.
The best place to find gold, is of course, in a gold mine. That is the case for PC Gold which is re-exploring the former Pickle Crow mine. Deep drilling in the vicinity of the #1 shaft has intersected three high-grade veins and an associated gold-bearing iron formation. The veins returned intercepts of 4.20 metres at 8.20 g/t (uncut) including 0.60 metres at 45.7 g/t; 0.50 metres at 31.90 g/t; and 0.50 metres at 5.96 g/t. An assay from the iron formation tested 10.99 g/t over 1.40 metres.
The former McBean mine belonging to Queenston Mining near Kirkland Lake was the target of definition drilling last year. The best hole returned 15.40 g/t over 4.20 metres. So far 26,104 metres of definition drilling has been completed, and the remaining 9,000 metres will test the area below the pit and expand the C-19 zone down dip and to the east.
Rainy River Resources has intersected high-grade gold in two deep holes at its Richardson Township property near Fort Frances. The first returned 18.63 g/t over 3.00 metres at a depth of 550 metres. The second returned 4.18 g/t over 10.50 metres at 440 metres and 8.64 g/t over 6.00 metres at 510 metres deep.
Rubicon Minerals has cut a new, broad gold zone 220 metres southwest of the F2 zone at its Phoenix project near Red Lake. Hole 39 intersected several areas of mineralization including 3,151.1 g/t (more than 90 opt) over 0.50 metres only 119 metres below the surface. The same hole returned multiple deeper intercepts including 35.3 g/t over 1.0 metres at a depth of 678 metres. Early in February, Rubicon received the necessary permits to begin dewatering the Phoenix shaft.
In Whitney Township, Temex Resources has drill results from the 13 vein including 86.18 g/t over 0.50 metres within a larger zone of 5.90 g/t over 9.10 metres. The property is near the former Hallnor and Broulan Reef mines.
Adventure Gold has identified a new gold structure at its Senore property near Val d'Or. The structure has been drilled and is believed to stretch over 600 metres laterally and up to 350 metres in depth. The best assays were 8.60 g/t over 1.8 metres and 11.10 g/t over 0.90 metres.
Aurizon Mines says it has confirmed the grade and thickness along the North zone at its Joanna project near Rouyn-Noranda. Several holes returned high-grade intersections that are coincidently all 1.50 metres long. They include 16.20 g/t in Hole 395, 16.0 g/t in Hole 406, 30.00 g/t in Hole 426, 22.80 g/t in Hole 427 and 10.50 g/t in Hole 433 from the S zone. The company plans to complete a pre-feasibility study in Q2 2009.
Goldcorp is planning a 2,800-metre, $1.1-million diamond drilling program for its partner Azimut Exploration at Azimut's Wabamisk property in the James Bay region, 70 km south of Goldcorp's Eleonore property. Samples taken from the property in 2008 included two that assays 2.40 and 2.10 g/t and six with values between 0.50 and 1.00 g/t and 17 that had lesser values. Elevated copper and silver values have also been noted at the property.
More high-grade intersections have been confirmed at NioGold Mining's Marban project in the Malartic Gold Camp. Hole 78 returned 1.78 g/t over 47.4 metres including 42.80 g/t over 1.00 metre; 3.86 g/t over 4.90 metres; and 2.95 g/t over 19.20 metres. Hole 80 returned 26.70 over 1.20 metres and 17.72 g/t over 4.30 metres from the Wedge zone.
Osisko Mining has released new assays from the definition drill program under way at South Barnet, a separate zone loc ated northeast of its Canadian Malartic deposit. Significant assays include 2.00 g/t over 182.40 metres, 2.76 g/t over 108.70 metres and 2.17 g/t over 158.50 metres. Higher grades were reported from other intersections including 4.13 g/t over 37.50 metres, 3.68 g/t over 37.00 metres and 3.87 g/t over 51.30 metres. The South Barnat zone is believed to have a minimum strike length of 850 metres and an average true width between 30 and 120 metres. It is open along strike to the east where it merges with the former East Malartic mine.
Wesdome Gold Mines has been drilling up a storm near its Kiena gold mine in Val d'Or. It has tested the Jacola Formation adjacent to the mine and discovered the Dubuisson zone located 3 km east of the mine. The Dubuisson zone has returned assays from 4.25 g/t over 17.00 metres to 8.75 g/t over 8.00 metres. High-grade assays, including 84.70 g/t over 1.00 metre and 42.59 g/t over 2.80 metres, from the Thompson River area have also been recorded.
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