Placer cuts Madsen updip

Drilling by Placer Dome (PDG-T) at Claude Resources (CRJ-T) has intersected four zones of gold mineralization at the historic Madsen mine in Ontario’s Red Lake camp.

The effort was aimed at testing for an updip extension of the high-grade No. 8 zone.

Two pilot holes were each followed by a wedge hole for a total of 4,432 metres of drilling. The four holes covered 500 metres of strike length at depths halfway between surface and the old No. 8 zone workings.

Three of the four zones cut yielded grades ranging between 4 and 5 grams gold per tonne over 1-3 metres. The remaining zone returned two intervals running up to 3 grams gold over 1.2 metres and 1.2 grams over 0.9 metre.

The latest geological and geochemical studies outlined 10 km of strike length over the northeastern strike extension of the mafic-ultramafic contact that hosts No. 8.

Another round of drilling will test the downdip extension of the No. 8 zone from surface. A long pilot hole will be sunk, followed by three or four wedges, beginning early in 2002.

Earlier this summer, four holes tested 975 metres of strike length along the interpreted trace of the mafic-ultramafic contact. The holes defined a roughly repetitive stratigraphy similar to that which hosts the No. 8 zone, as well as high-grade mineralization similar to that found at Placer’s nearby Campbell mine and Goldcorp‘s (G-T) adjacent Red Lake mine. Also, the fourth hole averaged 0.81 gram per tonne over a 9.45-metre interval that has been tentatively connected to the No. 8 zone. The interval included 1.16 metres grading 4.1 grams.

Between 1938 and 1976, Madsen produced 2.4 million oz. gold from 24 levels extending 1,219 metres below surface. The deposit is structurally controlled, and gold mineralization is hosted by parallel mafic tuff units known as Austin and McVeigh, with the former sitting in the hangingwall of the latter and accounting for virtually all historic output.

Placer can earn a 55% stake in the historic producer in return for spending $8.2 million on exploration over three years and financing feasibility study in the following two years. The company is required to spend at least $1.5 million on the project during 2002.

Meanwhile, Rubicon Minerals (RMX-V), which holds the largest land position in the camp, has flown 2,200 line km of magnetic surveys in preparation for drilling. The 75-km property is excluded from the joint venture with AngloGold (au-n).

PAST EXPLORATION ON THE CLAIMS UNCOVERED SEVERAL HIGH-GRADE GOLD SHOWINGS IN ALTERED AND DEFORMED ULTRAMAFICS. SUCH ASSOCIATIONS ARE TYPICAL OF THE RED LAKE CAMP, PARTICULARLY AT THE NEIGHBOURING RED LAKE AND CAMPBELL MINES OF GOLDCORP (G-T) AND PLACER DOME (PDG-T), RESPECTIVELY.