EXPLORATION ’95 — C, D zones targeted — New development

In an attempt to prove up additional reserves, Northfield Minerals (TSE) is exploring several targets on its Cheminis gold mine property west of Virginiatown, Ont.

With current minable reserves expected to be exhausted in three to five months, Northfield is embarking on both short-term and long-term programs to maintain production throughout the year and well into the future. In the short term, the company is focusing on the downdip extension of the C zone (below the 695-ft. level west of the Cheminis shaft) and the downdip extension of the A and B zones (east of the shaft).

Development will be carried out on the 865-ft. level’s west drift, as part of an effort to continue evaluation of the Sediment zone (which is subparallel to, and about 150 ft. below, the main flow ore horizon).

The major target of the longer-term program is the D zone (below the 1,035-ft. level), which has only been tested by widely spaced surface diamond drill holes. Underground drilling and drifting are planned on the D zone extension (above the 1,035-ft. level) and to determine the

structural-stratigraphic relationship among the A, B, C and D zones. Other targets to be tested by underground diamond drilling include the downdip extension of the C zone below the 1,035 ft. level, downdip extensions of the A and B zones and the Sediment zone. In addition, drifting will be carried out in an effort to gain access to and bulk-sample the carbonate zone, situated 300 ft. north of the C zone.

The work is estimated to cost $1.6 million in total, of which $200,000 will be spent on the short-term program, with the balance reserved for the long term.

Drill-indicated reserves at Cheminis stand at 1.8 million tons grading 0.162 oz. gold per ton.

On the west shore of Bear Lake, about 4,000 ft. east of the Cheminis shaft, the company is bulk-sampling an auriferous green carbonate zone. The carbonate horizon, which has been traced by mapping for 8,000 ft. to the east, was previously drill-tested, returning highly anomalous gold values. Twenty-nine samples collected from 13 percussion holes, which were drilled to collect a 350-ton bulk sample, yielded values ranging from 0.001 to 1.17 oz. The bulk sample is expected to be processed shortly.