Eastmain, Quaterra to drill Abitibi extension

With $140,000 in hand from Quaterra Resources (QTA-V), Eastmain Resources (ER-T) is set to begin drilling on the partners’ Abitibi Extension project in northeastern Ontario.

Targeting claim blocks in the northwestern extension of the Abitibi greenstone belt, the program will test up to 15 magnetic and electromagnetic (EM) anomalies prospective for three types of deposits: copper-zinc-silver-gold volcanogenic massive sulphides; ultramafic-hosted nickel-copper-platinum-group-metals; and lode-gold.

BHP Minerals, a subsidiary of Broken Hill Proprietary (BHP-N), identified the anomalies during a 1998 airborne geophysical survey that covered almost 30,000 line-km.

In April 1999, Eastmain and Quaterra staked 242 sq. km in four large claim blocks covering all the main targets identified.

Two hundred line-kilometres of followup ground geophysics on the Nett River claim block confirmed the presence of several EM anomalies, including a strong magnetic feature interpreted as being a folded iron formation.

Drilling will test several of these strong EM conductors, which are 500-1,000 metres long and which may indicate base metal deposits.

Six other targets have been identified on the margin of a gravity anomaly that underlies a portion of the Nett River belt.

Quaterra can earn a 50% interest in the project by spending $1.5 million on exploration over four years. To date, the junior has spent $331,500.

Meanwhile, at their jointly held Clearwater gold property in northwestern Quebec, Eastmain and Quebec government-owned Soquem have started a 3,100-metre campaign of diamond drilling that is part of multi-stage program budgeted at $600,000.

Drilling will expand the known gold resource on the Eau Claire zone and test the lateral and depth extensions of gold-rich veins discovered during a fall stripping program. Channel samples taken along the P vein averaged an uncut 12.34 grams gold per tonne over a length of 135 metres.

Drilling will also test ore-grade, tourmaline-rich rock discovered during previous work on the property. A new tourmaline zone, exposed at 450 West-100 North, near the end of the P and J Veins, assayed 16.2 grams gold per tonne across 17.6 metres.

Eastmain expects these newly discovered veins and the tourmaline-rich rock to add significant tonnage to the known resource of 544,000 tonnes grading 11.1 grams gold (8.7 grams cut grade), currently estimated from only the G, I and J veins.

In May, the partners will begin the next phase of surface stripping at Clearwater.