The new program, about 8,000 metres of drilling in 70 holes, will be used to outline the currently known North Portage and Third Portage deposits and to investigate targets generated by overburden drilling.
Meadowbank, about 70 km north of Baker Lake, already has a large resource blocked out. Five zones — Vault, Third Portage, Goose Island, Bay Zone and North Portage — together contain a measured and indicated resource of 7.8 million tonnes grading 5.8 grams gold per tonne, plus inferred resources of 10.9 million tonnes with an average grade of 4.4 grams.
Earlier this field season, a 35-hole drill program indicated a new mineralized body, dubbed the Connector zone, extending southeast from North Portage to Third Portage. A 450-metre strike length is mineralized over drill widths of 2-11 metres.
Gold grades in the Connector zone are mainly in the range of 3-10 grams, with local higher-grade sections running up to 175.6 grams over a core length of 1.5 metres. Most are beneath Second Portage Lake but at relatively shallow depths below the lake bottom.
Cumberland is hoping the new zone will increase the potential for mining both the North Portage and Third Portage deposits from open pits.
Recent drilling on the Vault deposit also intersected gold mineralization downdip and to the south of the known zones. Widths of 1.1-7.3 metres contained grades between 2.1 and 12.7 grams. One hole, VLT02-49, intersected a narrow, 0.2-metre vein, but a grade of 107.3 grams gold per tonne may compensate for the thin structure.
Cumberland, which plans to have a feasibility study ready by the end of the year, has metallurgical tests and environmental baseline studies under way on the project.
Cumberland, which has budgeted $3.9 million for the drill program, has $18 million in working capital.
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