Barrick drills new zone east of Holt-McDermott

American Barrick Resources (TSE) is drilling what a company official has described as an “interesting new zone” on the Mattawasaga property, east of Barrick’s Holt-McDermott gold mine at Kirkland Lake, Ont. While Louis Dionne, vice- president of Canadian explorations, said it is still too early to determine how significant the new zone will be, results so far are encouraging.

They include an 85-ft. intersection averaging 0.23 oz. gold per ton in an area 800 ft. east of a known shallow deposit that contains 200,000 tons of grade 0.10 oz. Mineralization within the new discovery has been reported over a strike length of 1,150 ft. and at depths of 1,150-1,500 ft. below surface.

Barrick has been drilling on claims surrounding Holt-McDermott in a bid to prove up more mill feed for an operation that would benefit from the discovery of a high- grade gold zone. While Holt- McDermott produced 63,000 oz. gold in 1989, the grade of ore mined was a disappointing 0.13 oz. gold.

The 85-ft. intersection is one of three to be reported toward the east of the Mattawasaga property that was previously held by Vancouver- based Canamax Resources (TSE). Canamax retains a 10% net profits interest in the property after the first 690,000 tons of ore have been milled.

Having already completed 12 holes in the new alteration zone, exploration crews will drill 12 more holes between now and Christmas to obtain information that may affect the final depth of an extended Holt-McDermott mine shaft. All of those holes are expected to target an area 1,150-1,500 ft. from surface between two major faults — the McKenna and Goshmount.

If the zone proved to be large enough, Barrick may elect to extend the Holt-McDermott shaft below its targeted depth of 1,900 ft. A $2-million shaft-sinking program began in September.

“We are not in a position yet to establish an ore reserve,” said Dionne who admits to being impressed by the thickness of the zone. “We are talking between 45 ft. and 80 ft.,” he told The Northern Miner recently.

Depending on the success of the current exploration program, Barrick could drive a drift from the Holt-McDermott mine out towards and underneath the new zone.

Noranda (TSE) and Kasner Group company Argentex have claims adjoining Mattawasaga to the south and east. But Dionne said there is still about 2,600 ft. between the discovery area and the property boundary.