Starfield boosts West zone (September 17, 2001)

Vancouver — Undeterred by low copper and nickel prices, junior Starfield Resources (SRU-V) continues to extend the mineralization at the West zone on the Ferguson Lake nickel-copper-cobalt-PGM project in Nunavut.

The project has been plagued by skeptics due to its remote location, the lack of metallurgical test work and generally low grades. However, the recent drill results indicate that the grades improve with depth.

Hole 91 cut 20.9 metres grading 1.37% copper, 0.89% nickel, 0.1% cobalt, 2.38 grams palladium and 0.52 gram platinum per tonne from 794 metres down-hole.

Moving 300 metres to the west, hole 89 cut three intervals of mineralization, including an 18.9-metre section running 0.83% copper, 0.5% nickel, 0.06% cobalt, 2.5 grams palladium and 0.25 gram platinum from 797 metres down-hole.

Hole 86 tested this mineralization some 250 metres updip and returned significantly lower grades. The best portion ran 0.5% copper, 0.29% nickel, 0.04% cobalt, 0.76 gram palladium and 0.13 gram platinum over 6.2 metres from 493 metres down-hole.

Some 1.24 km to the east, hole 85 cut two zones, including an 8.8-metre section running 0.62% copper, 0.59% nickel, 0.07% cobalt, 1.67 grams palladium and 0.28 gram platinum from 364 metres down-hole.

So far, this year’s drilling activities have increased the inferred resource to 51.7 million tonnes grading 0.92% copper, 0.58% nickel and 1.44 grams combined platinum and palladium per tonne, using a 1% combined copper-nickel cutoff.

At a 1.5% combined copper-nickel cutoff, the resource weighs in at 25.5 million tonnes grading 1.15% copper, 0.87% nickel and 1.86 grams combined platinum and palladium.

Using a 2% copper-nickel cutoff, the resource is reduced to 9.3 million tonnes averaging 1.37% copper, 0.87% nickel and 2.06 grams combined platinum and palladium.

The higher-grade zones occur in two principal areas of the West zone.

The first area strikes for about 1.3 km and is contained in at least two parallel lenses near the surface, generally not exceeding depths of 100-150 metres.

The other zone is 100 metres west of the first and has a strike length of 840 metres. Mineralization generally can be found at depths of between 200 and 500 metres.

The latest results extend the zone of higher grades to greater depths.

Three rigs are turning on the project. Two continue to test the West zone at depth and along strike. The third recently completed three holes on the M and East targets. Assay results are pending.

The West zone lies 160 km south of Baker Lake. Copper mineralization there was initially discovered in the 1950s by Inco (N-T) and followed up three decades later by a unit of Homestake Mining.

Inco pegged the West zone with a resource of 6.4 million tonnes grading 0.87% copper and 0.75% nickel. Homestake discovered showings of platinum, palladium and cobalt mineralization in sulphide-bearing outcrops.

Manual resource estimates for the East I zone come in at 2.9 million tonnes grading 1% copper, 0.8% nickel and 1.2 grams combined platinum-palladium.

The East II zone tallies 1.3 million tonnes grading 0.9% copper, 0.8% nickel and 1.2 grams combined platinum-palladium.

Starfield earned a 100% interest in the 20-sq.-km property by paying $75,000 in cash, issuing 4.25 million shares and spending $1.7 million on exploration.