What does it matter that the exploration program was designed to find uranium, when significant gold and chromite mineralization is the result? Happy discoveries come in all metal varieties.
In the summer of 2007, HINTERLAND METALS of Val d'Or, Que., conducted a surface prospecting and sampling program on its Hearne property 120 km, west of Churchill in northern Manitoba. It hoped to find evidence of uranium, that much sought-after commodity for the 21st Century. Instead it found anomalous gold values up to 7.5 g/t along a 4.5-km length of sulphide-bearing quartzite and quartz pebble conglomerate outcrops marked by a distinctive green colour. The company says grab samples returned chrome values of up to 1.8%, and that 55% of the samples assayed greater than 1,000 ppm Cr.
The discovery of gold and chromite in no way precludes the potential for uranium. In fact, the best-case scenario would be discovery of a rich iron oxide copper-gold (IOCG) deposit that occurs in conjunction with a uranium deposit. Dual discoveries of this nature have been documented in Australia.
It is well documented on Archean cratons elsewhere in the world, Hinterland said in a press release, that fuchsite-bearing quartzites and quartz pebble conglomerates are prospective for paleo-placer deposits of gold and/or uranium. Chromite is commonly found in the heavy mineral suite accompanying gold and/or uranium in alluvial placers. Placer deposits form as a result of the weathering and erosion of bedrock material followed by the concentration of that material at a distance from its source.
ACTIVATION LABORATORIES of Ancaster, Ont., tested Hinterland's samples using a neutron activation technique.
Investors are invited to visit Beyond the Press Release on the Hinterland IR hub at www.agoracom.com/IR/Hinterland where the results described in its press release are discussed in greater detail by Mark Fekete, Hinterland president and CEO.
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