New zone proved up at Black Angel

Recently finishing a summer exploration program at the Black Angel property in western Greenland, Angus & Ross (AGU-L) has confirmed down-dip continuity of a long surface showing discovered in 2005.

Ten holes drilled this past season on the South Lakes Glacier showing encountered mineralization over core lengths of mainly 1 to 3 metres, with high lead and zinc grades. Lead grades were mostly between 3% and 8%; zinc grades between 5% and 12%, and silver between 15 and 30 grams per tonne.

A few intersections were thicker, including an 8.4-metre interval that graded 2.4% lead, 5.8% zinc and 9.3 grams silver per tonne, and a 5.4-metre interval that graded 9.1% lead, 21.6% zinc and 37 grams silver. Some zones were very high-grade, including a 2.2-metre interval that ran 7.5% lead, 21.6% zinc and 37 grams silver per tonne.

A fan of four holes drilled from the same setup confirmed the zone down to a vertical depth of 170 metres.

The surface showing is about 700 metres in strike length, and had been hidden under glacial ice during the period the mine was active (1973-1990). Recent glacial melt-out revealed the showing.

At another prospect, Ark — discovered by Cominco, now Teck Cominco (TCK-T, TCK-N), in the 1980s while the Black Angel mine was still in operation — Angus & Ross expects to be ready to calculate a resource figure once all assay results are in. Three recent holes intersected a zone of 6 to 7.4 metres wide with zinc grades of 5% to 7% and lead grades of 0.3 to 4.4%, plus some silver.

Angus & Ross’s program this year finished with about 8.675 metres of diamond drilling, and geophysical contractors performed a helicopter-borne survey of 300 line-km. The company also took bulk samples from the Glacier showing and from the workings of the old mine, where a 2006 pre-feasibility study identified a remnant reserve of 2.2 million tonnes grading 9.7% zinc and 3% lead. That feasibility study suggested production would be economic at prices around US$1,950 per tonne zinc (US88 per lb.) and US$1,100 per tonne lead (US50 per lb.).