Corona, Harte sweet on Sugar

Drilling by Corona Gold (CRG-T) at the Sugar Zone gold deposit, 25 km north of White River, Ont., has substantiated a resource of 692,000 tonnes grading 6.9 grams gold per tonne.

Corona, which is funding and managing exploration on the project in order to earn a 51% interest from Harte Resources (HTRC-C), drilled 53 holes on the prospect for a total of 9,937 metres of drilling. The drill program satisfies Corona’s obligations under the option agreement with Harte.

The drilling, supplemented by backhoe stripping and channel sampling from the bedrock surface, tested 3 km of a known gold-bearing structure. The company describes the mineralization as “relatively continuous” for 1.1 km of that strike length.

There appear to be two parallel structures, about 15 to 25 metres apart, that play host to the gold mineralization. The structures vary in width but at their widest are about 12 metres across. They are mineralized near the contact between a feldspar porphyry and the surrounding mafic volcanic rocks, and the host rocks are silicified and biotitized around the mineralized zones, which also carry between 1% and 10% pyrite and pyrrhotite.

The main effort in drilling was brought to bear on the 130 Shoot, where 16 holes further defined previously known gold mineralization. Another eight holes defined a new zone, the 124 Shoot, south of the 130 Shoot. Most of the remaining holes were tests at about 100 metres depth along the Sugar structures.

The deepest intersections on the structure are below 200 metres, and the mineralization remains open at depth. The resource estimate, 692,000 tonnes grading 6.9 grams gold per tonne, assumes continuity to a depth of 250 metres.

The partners are considering a bulk-sampling program and further diamond drilling on the property. Under the agreement, Corona can earn a further 24% by funding $700,000 in exploration on the property by July 2002.