Commander hits high-grade at new Baffin Island gold zone (October 03, 2005)

Vancouver — Drilling by Commander Resources (CMD-V) on the Ridge Lake prospect at its Baffin Island gold project has discovered a new gold zone.

Hole 05-35 intersected 8.9 metres from 84 metres below surface grading 10.6 grams gold per tonne, including 4.2 metres of 21.3 grams gold within the lower iron formation. The iron formation units start at surface and are open at depth.

Drilling on the Ridge Lake prospect area has led to the recognition of a “stacked” gold-bearing iron formation sequence. The occurrence of an upper “silicate-facies” and lower “sulphide-facies” boosts the size potential of the zone. Both formations occur in a strong east-west structural corridor and exhibit strong folding with locally intense shearing and alteration.

Commander will now focus on expanding the near-surface, higher-grade gold potential along strike at the 3.5-km-long Ridge Lake zone, specifically targeting the largely untested lower iron formation.

Last year’s initial drilling on the Malrock zone, located along strike and about 30 km west of Ridge Lake, indicated two separate gold-bearing iron formations in some holes; thus indicating a “stacked” system.

Mineralization in the upper iron formation occurs as free gold within coarse-grained garnets and amphiboles, and in quartz veins. In the lower iron formation, mineralization is associated with sulphides, primarily pyrrhotite and arsenopyrite, with minor pyrite and chalcopyrite.

Commander is earning a 100% interest from BHP Billiton (BHP-N) and Falconbridge (FAL.LV-T, FAL-N) on separate, adjoining portions of the Baffin Island gold project. The majors hold no back-in rights on any discovered gold deposits.

The 4,000-sq.-km land package covers over 140 km of the east-west trending Bravo Iron Formation within the regional scale Lower Proterozoic Foxe-Rinkian fold belt, which extends from the Melville Peninsula of northeastern mainland Nunavut, through Baffin Island and into western Greenland. Following its initial exploration in 2003, the company views the area as a Homestake-style gold province, having similar geology to the 40-million-ounce gold mining district in South Dakota.

Shares of Commander Resources recently rallied to a 5-month high, at the 30 per share level, for a market capitalization of about $9 million, based on its 30 million shares outstanding.