Tundra/Teck’s Lamaque mine records high gold values

There could be some life yet in Teck Corp.’s Lamaque mine property, a portion of which is being explored under a joint venture agreement with Tundra Gold Mines. High grade gold values, in almost all cases over mining widths, have been encountered in an underground development program on the 3,200-ft level.

A $2.5-million work program is currently in progress including development work on at least two levels. On the 1,800-ft level, an 1,100-ft crosscut is advancing towards an underground drill intercept that returned 0.26 oz gold across 9.0 ft.

At least 300 ft of drifting is planned on the vein and about 8,000 ft of exploration drilling from the drift into the No 5 plug and an adjacent vein structure.That particular vein returned one intercept grading 0.48 oz gold over 15 ft. The No 5 plug was the least explored plug on the property because it was too far away from established mine workings.

The plug has been explored in reasonable detail to the 500-ft level and about 10 holes were drilled by Tundra in and around the structure in an earlier program. Three vein systems have been identified at various levels in the mine, all of which are independent from the No 5 plug.

According to John May, president, Teck Explorations, the vein structure on the 1,800-ft level could be the 35 vein which is also being exposed by drifting on the 3,200-ft level. Recent face samples from this working horizon included 7.5 ft of 1.9 oz gold, 7 ft grading 4.5 oz and 6 ft averaging 1.5 oz per ton.

No visible gold was sampled or assayed but there have been reports of native gold underground which is somewhat unusual for Lamaque. The 32 vein is being accessed and developed in a similar manner.

Approximately 2,600 ft of drilling has been budgeted for the 3,400-ft level to evaluate the 32, 35 and 43 vein structures and Mr May concedes the joint venture is “getting more action from the veins than from the plug.”

Tundra has agreed to acquire a 27% interest in Golden Pond Resources through a share exchange. Golden Pond has a 25% interest in a portion of the Lamaque property which separates Tundra’s two principal areas of interest.

Drill-indicated reserves on that property total 500,000 tons grading 0.22 oz gold per ton. In terms of the economics of reactivating the Lamaque mill these reserves could be an important factor, The Northern Miner gathers.