Drilling on the Black Fox property, 75 km east of Timmins, Ont., is returning encouraging results for owner
Highlights to date include the following:
– hole 417 – 1.6 metres of true width (beginning 66 metres below surface) grading 89.9 grams gold per tonne;
– hole 426 — 2.8 metres (from 23.5 metres) averaging 33.9 grams gold;
– hole 213 — 8.4 metres (from 96 metres) of 16.9 grams gold;
– hole 223 — 1.1 metres (from 149 metres) of 32.7 grams gold;
– hole 231 — 1 metre (from 237.6 metres) of 67.9 grams gold;
– hole 232 — 3.3 metres (from 250 metres) grading 42.2 grams gold, and 2.8 metres (from 262.2 metres) of 20.4 grams gold;
– hole 238 — 3.5 metres (from 134 metres) of 35 grams gold.
The remaining 17 holes returned between 4 and 17 grams gold over similar widths.
Apollo plans to continue underground and surface drilling ahead of a full feasibility study, due at year-end. The study will contain an updated reserve estimate.
A prefeasibility study early in 2004 pegged open-pit reserves at 2.9 million tonnes grading 4.8 grams gold. Additional (unclassified) mineralized material is estimated at 1.4 million tonnes running 4.8 grams gold.
Since those estimates, the company has sunk 315 core holes (43,280 metres) from surface, and 41,065 metres worth of underground drilling along a 920-metre drift on the 235-metre level. The company expects reserves to increase significantly.
Black Fox is envisaged as an open-pit/underground operation, with the pit mined at the daily rate of 1,500 tonnes over more than five years. Annual production from the pit is expected to average 81,000 oz. gold. The underground portion of the operation would include a mill and tailing impoundment facility.
Permitting is expected to be complete by early 2006, with full production under way as early as 2007.
Black Fox straddles the southern limb of the east-west trending Destor-Porcupine fault system, which hosts many deposits in the Timmins area. It is on a flexure in the fault where the strike changes to southeast. Free gold occurs in quartz veins and stockworks hosted by altered ultramafic rocks, and with pyrite in altered tholeiitic basalts.
Apollo intends to carry out more surface drilling on the property’s Base Metal zone, where, earlier this year, drilling returned 16.5 metres (true width) grading 12.5% zinc, 3.8% lead and 65 grams silver. The zone is in the footwall of the Destor-Porcupine fault system.
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