Abacus sees expansion potential at Afton

Vancouver — Two newly tabled resource estimates have prompted Abacus Mining and Exploration (AME-V) to carry out more infill and step-put drilling at its properties near the past-producing Afton copper-gold mine near Kamloops, in southern British Columbia.

Abacus is exploring its Afton-area properties with a view to outlining sufficient resources to revive the mill facilities at the dormant Afton mine complex. In May of this year, the company signed an agreement to buy the Afton mill and related facilities, including associated permits, from Teck Cominco (TEK-T) for $10 million and 18.5 million of its shares in stages over the next two years.

Abacus already owns 100% of various mineral properties in the Afton area, including the Rainbow and DM/Audra/Crescent areas that were the subject of the recent National Instrument 43-101 reports.

The Rainbow area is situated 3.5 km southeast of the Afton mill, while the DM/Audra/Crescent area is about 1 km from the mill.

The Rainbow area hosts an indicated resource of 100.6 million tonnes grading 0.237% copper and 0.066 gram gold per tonne, using a cutoff grade of 0.1% copper. If the cutoff grade is raised to 0.35% copper, the indicated resource drops to 14.8 million tonnes of 0.53% copper and 0.119 gram gold.

The Rainbow area has additional inferred resources ranging from 10.6 million tonnes to 100,000 tonnes, at cutoff grades ranging from 0.1% to 0.35%, respectively.

The DM/Audra/Crescent area hosts a drill-indicated resource of 59.9 million tonnes at 0.217% copper and 0.116 gram gold at an 0.1% copper cutoff grade. This drops to 6.3 million tonnes at 0.437% copper and 0.246 gram gold at a cutoff grade of 0.35% copper.

The DM/Audra/Crescent area also hosts an inferred resource of 48.9 million tonnes at 0.186% copper and 0.081 gram gold at a cutoff grade of 0.1% copper, or 2.7 million tonnes at 0.393% copper and 0.18 gram gold if the cutoff is raised to 0.35%.

Both areas are believed to have good potential for resource expansion and more work was recommended for both targets. At Rainbow, a 30-hole program of about 9,000 metres is planned to test the extensions of the zone and to in-fill areas within the zone. The recommended program includes re-sampling of previously drilled holes.

At DM/Audra/Crescent, about 8,000 metres of drilling was recommended to expand the zone and to infill the zone within the resource area.