FNX, Dynatec confirm zone at Norman (October 10, 2002)

Infill drilling on the North Zone of the Norman nickel-copper deposit northeast of Sudbury, Ont., has confirmed mineralization at vertical depths around 165 metres.

Recent drilling by joint venture partners FNX Mining (FNX-T) and Dynatec (DY-T) intersected nickel, copper and precious-metal mineralization in massive-sulphide rock. The sulphide zones occur in the Whistle Offset Dyke, a gabbro body that extends off the main Sudbury intrusion.

The main part of the new drilling tested previously drilled parts of the Norman deposit’s North Zone, between the surface and a vertical depth of 165 metres. The holes intersected multiple zones of copper-nickel mineralization with precious-metal credits. The North Zone plunges at about 45 to the south, and the partners plan to test the down-plunge extension of the zone.

Copper grades in the new drill holes were generally in the 2% to 6% range, although some narrower high-grade zones ran as high as 17% copper. Nickel grades were mostly 0.1% to 0.5%, with platinum and palladium usually grading 1-3 grams each and gold grading a fraction of a gram per tonne. The most copper-rich mineralization can carry higher platinum and palladium grades, running up to 11 grams platinum and 6.4 grams palladium per tonne.

The zones are typically between 1 and 4 metres wide, but one hole (FNX 4033) intersected three zones, the first having a core length of 0.9 metres, the second 12.2 metres, and the third 33 metres. Given the angle of the drilling, true widths should be about 70% of the drilled lengths.

The 33-metre intersection graded 1.7% copper, 0.1% nickel, 2.4 grams platinum, 1.8 grams palladium, and 1.2 grams gold per tonne.

Other infill drilling targeted areas nearer surface, with one hole intersecting 43.3 metres grading 1.7% copper, 0.3% nickel, 1.6 grams platinum, 1.1 grams palladium, and 0.6 gram gold per tonne. Another cut 6.6 metres that ran 5.9% copper, 0.4% nickel, 2.1 grams platinum, 1.3 grams palladium, and 2.1 grams gold per tonne.

Stripping at surface near the up-plunge projection of the North Zone also unearthed massive sulphide mineralization, with channel samples running between 5.3% and 28.7% copper, with 0.1% to 1.1% nickel. Precious-metal credits in the zone ranged from 1.6 to 4.8 grams platinum per tonne, from 1.6 to 10.5 grams palladium, and from 0.7 to 4.4 grams gold.

Current drilling is testing another known zone of mineralization, the 2000 Zone, at about 600 metres vertical depth and about 750 metres down-plunge from the North Zone. The down-plunge extension of the North Zone that leads toward the 2000 Zone is also being drilled, and two more drills are being moved to the property.