Mineralization Discovery Lifts VMS Ventures

Shares of VMS Ventures (VMS-V, VMSTF-O) shot up 63.6% on news of a significant discovery of volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) mineralization at its Reed Lake property, in Manitoba.

The company — which develops copper-zinc properties in the Flin Flon-Snow Lake VMS Belt — saw its stock jump 14 to close at 36 apiece on a trading volume of 14.2 million shares.

In its first round of drilling, VMS Ventures drilled six holes about 15 km west of the former Spruce Point mine and 1.2 km south of HudBay Minerals’ (HBM-T, HBMFF-O) Highway Zone copper-zinc target.

Hole 1 intersected veinlets and disseminations of pyrrhotite, chalcopyrite and pyrite over a core interval of 37.5 metres starting at 132 metres depth in strongly chlorite-altered rock.

Assay results contained a number of samples with more than 0.2% copper locally throughout the zone of alteration in 0.5- to 0.75-metre intervals.

Two of the samples exceeded the limit of 1% copper, returning 2.67% copper over 1 metre, and 2.11% copper over 0.5 metre, respectively.

“To have evidence of either VMS-type mineralization and/or alteration in all six holes is about as good an outcome as we could have possibly hoped for at this stage,” VMS Ventures president John Roozendaal says from his office in Vancouver. “We’ve made significant intercepts that we’re very excited about.”

The Reed Lake property is located 52 km southwest of Snow Lake — a small town 685 km north of Winnipeg, where the main industry is — and always has been — mining.

Assay results from hole 2 are not expected until the end of September. But drilling intersected altered rocks similar to those found in hole 1, in the upper part of the hole 2 — about 100 metres away.

Hole 2 also hit 34 metres of sulphides starting at 206 metres below surface, and a second 1.25-metre zone from 248 metres.

The 34-metre sulphide interval included a 10.5-metre section of pyrrhotite and chalcopyrite and an 11.75-metre section of near-solid pyrite with visible sphalerite. Magnetite occurs both within the pyrite-rich section and as a discrete layer below the pyrite section.

Hole 3 — 185 metres from hole 2 — intersected 2.8 metres of massive sulphides, Roozendaal says, and zinc and copper sulphide minerals were visible in the core.

The remaining three holes — also showed evidence of VMS-style sulphide mineralization.

“This airborne anomaly we drilled appears to be 800 metres in length, so obviously a lot of drilling has to be done to see what the actual dimensions and orientation are.”Roozendaal says.

VMS Ventures has been acquiring property in the Snow Lake area for the last two-and-a-half years, and now has 12 distinct, prospective land packages in the Snow Lake-Flin Flon VMS belt.