Cumberland adds deposit to Meadowbank

Drilling at the Meadowbank gold project, in Nunavut, has prompted Cumberland Resources (CBD-T) to initiate a resource estimate for the newly discovered Vault zone.

The zone, situated 5 km northeast of known deposits, was discovered earlier this year when eight of 10 holes cut shallow-lying gold mineralization underneath a surface showing. Another 16 holes have been drilled since, tracing mineralization over a strike length of 850 metres and a width of 300 metres, from surface to a depth of 110 metres.

Highlights include:

hole 18, which averaged 4.02 grams over 17 metres, starting 55 metres below surface;

hole 21, which averaged 4.71 grams over 7.7 metres, starting 85 metres below surface;

hole 22, which yielded 4.85 metres grading 5.84 grams at a vertical depth of 10 metres; and

hole 24, which yielded 8.75 metres grading 7.02 grams at a vertical depth of 11 metres.

Mineralization is hosted by volcanics displaying sericitic, carbonate and pyritic alteration. This represents a new style of mineralization for the region.

Mineralization remains open in all directions.

The Meadowbank property lies 70 km north of Baker Lake and hosts 11.3 million tonnes in four near-surface deposits averaging 5.73 grams gold. About 5.5 million tonnes of that, averaging 5.44 grams, are potentially amenable to open-pit mining methods at a cutoff grade of 2.5 grams gold.

A prefeasibility study, carried out by MRDI Canada, estimates that the Third Portage zone contains a 7.4-million-tonne resource averaging 5.88 grams gold.

At the Goose Island deposit, about 1 km to the south, MRDI has calculated a resource of 1.2 million tonnes grading 11.9 grams gold.

Between Third Portage and Goose Island, at the Bay zone, which was first defined in early 1999, Cumberland now has a resource of 684,000 tonnes grading 4.8 grams.