Freewest gains PGE prospect

With the platinum-palladium hunt heating up in Ontario, Montreal-based Freewest Resources (FWR-T) has acquired 6 sq. km of prospective ground in the Manitouwadge greenstone belt, north of the Hemlo gold camp.

Situated 17 km west of the Geco copper-zinc mine, in Roberta Twp., the property covers a mafic-to-ultramafic intrusion known as the Moshkinabi Lake complex.

Grab samples from preliminary prospecting have yielded up to 2.07 grams combined platinum-palladium-gold, 0.54% copper and 0.17% nickel. Six grab samples from a prospecting pit returned an average grade of 1.2 grams platinum-palladium-gold, 0.3% copper and 0.16% nickel.

Mineralization is said to be hosted in a coarse-grained hornblendite and gabbro, exposed over 6 sq. metres. The host rocks are magnetic and contain net-textured to heavily disseminated pyrrhotite, chalcopyrite and pentlandite.

Freewest can acquire a 100% interest from a local prospector by issuing 100,000 shares, making cash payments totalling $100,000 and spending $300,000 on exploration over four years. The vendor retains a 2.5% net smelter return royalty, which can be reduced to 1.5% with a $1-million payment.

Trenching is planned for the spring.