Placer Dome drills near Detour Lake

Drilling west of its Detour Lake mine in northeastern Ontario, Placer Dome (TSE) has intersected substantial widths of low-grade gold mineralization at its Fault Lake property.

Placer Dome is earning a 65% interest in the property from Pelangio-Larder Mines (CDN), and, in the current round of exploration work, the major has drilled two deep exploration holes. It has also wedged two more holes from each primary hole.

Assay results have been released from the first hole, 439-008, and its two wedged mates, 439-008A and 439-008B.

In 439-008, over a total mineralized length of 794 metres, 29.76 metres encountered grades of more than 1 gram gold per tonne. Included in these results was a 2-metre interval with a gold grade of 384.04 grams and a 1.17-metre interval with 6.95 grams. The cutoff grade at Detour is 3.5 grams gold.

In hole 439-008A, which was drilled to intersect the mineralized zone 30 metres updip from the primary hole, a total length of 170 metres is mineralized, with 11 metres grading more than 1 gram gold. Two 1-metre intersections had grades of 23.21 and 27.05 grams.

Hole 439-008B, which intersected the mineralized zone 30 metres downdip from the primary hole, encountered mineralization over a total core length of 357 metres, of which 16.15 metres graded better than 1 gram per tonne. This included 2 metres grading 8.01 grams gold and 1 metre grading 5.78 grams.

The mineralization is similar to the zones in the hangingwall of the Detour mine, and exists in basalts containing biotite and calcite alteration. The gold occurs mainly in narrow quartz veins and stringers with sulphide minerals. Visible gold and erratic, high-grade mineralization are typical of the hangingwall zones at Detour, and the highest grades in the Fault Lake intersections are thought to be similar.

The mineralization is 500-950 metres down-hole, and Placer, which is developing ore at the 760-metre level, may not be ready to develop ore at that depth on the Fault Lake property.

Placer Dome is in negotiations for a joint venture on a 9.6-sq.-km land package on the western boundary of the Detour ground, held by Gowest Amalgamated Resources (ASE).

Pelangio-Larder announced three share issues — one of 975,059 shares at 45 cents in a private placement to a group of investors; another, of 572,517 shares at 40 cents to settle $229,006 in debts; and a third, of 94,296 shares at 25 cents as bonuses in return for loans from individuals. The placement had total proceeds of $438,776, to be used to pay fees and expenses from Pelangio-Larder’s takeover of Destor Resources.