Exploration breathes life into Buchans camp

The Buchans base metal camp in central Newfoundland has historically been one of relatively small but high-grade massive sulphide deposits. The original Buchans deposit, to take only one example, was just over half a million tonnes but averaged nearly 15% zinc, 7.7% lead, and 1.4% copper; the largest, Lucky Strike, was only 6 million tonnes but sported higher grades still.

Camps with mines like that can produce some exciting drill holes.

Recent drilling by Phelps Dodge (PD-N) near the northeastern corner of Red Indian Lake has revived interest in the camp. Phelps Dodge is believed to have made a significant discovery of massive sulphide mineralization 5 km southwest of Buchans Junction. The discovery — and the response by junior exploration companies — means the area is being explored more intensively than it has been since the mid-1980s.

The mid-1980s was when Noranda (NOR-T) drilled off a significant resource at the Duck Pond massive sulphide deposit, 15 km south of Millertown, a deposit now undergoing a feasibility study funded by Thundermin Resources (THR-T) and Queenston Mining (QMI-T). During that same period, BP Resources and Inco (N-T) held extensive land positions in the mineral belt, and each discovered base metal prospects in the Buchans area.

The new activity is largely being driven by smaller companies, many of which are based in Newfoundland and all of which are keenly interested in developments at Phelps Dodge’s property and at Duck Pond.

Celtic Minerals (CME-V) and joint-venture partners control a large land package immediately south of Millertown, in the Victoria River volcanic belt. With Jilbey Enterprises (JLB-M), exploration is under way on the Victoria River and Hungry Hill projects, where previous drilling turned up altered and slightly mineralized volcanics.

Billiton, which has mounted a major exploration effort in Newfoundland in the past year, optioned several properties in the area from Celtic, Buchans River (BUV-V) and Altius Minerals (ALS-V). The deals with Celtic cover properties immediately around Buchans Junction, as well as a larger property on the volcanic belt to the northeast, toward Badger.

Billiton started work on the properties in April and will be testing electromagnetic (EM) and induced-polarization anomalies discovered in previous geophysical surveys.

Phelps Dodge has also started drilling on its own Mary March property, from a collar on the partners’ Millertown property. Phelps Dodge will be giving the core from that part of the hole on the Celtic-Billiton ground to Celtic and Billiton for their own use.

Billiton’s work on the Altius properties, in the Victoria River belt, southwest of the Celtic land package, has also started. The program includes drilling, trenching and geophysics. Four holes on the Victoria River North property did not find any mineralization, and interpretations of the geology suggest that a separate faulted block, about 1 km away, may hold the favourable volcanic horizon.

Nearby, at Taylor Brook, trenching is investigating recently discovered EM anomalies. Also at Taylor Brook, a very-low-frequency EM anomaly, trenched this season, turned out to be a disseminated sulphide showing in mafic rocks, which returned low nickel-copper-cobalt values with some platinum and palladium.

Meanwhile, on the southern shore of Red Indian Lake, immediately southwest of the Celtic land package, privately owned Kelmet Resources optioned a 161-sq.-km property from Noranda that includes the Daniel’s Pond zinc deposit. Based on drilling by Noranda, Calgary-based Taiga Consultants has estimated a resource of 4 million tonnes at Daniel’s Pond, grading 3.15% zinc, 0.17% copper and 1.36% lead, plus 98 grams silver and 0.35 gram gold per tonne. A higher-grade core zone of 1 million tonnes has average grades of 7.71% zinc and 4.13% lead.

Kelmet’s agreement with Noranda, signed in February 1999, allows it to earn a full interest in the property by spending $1.8 million over five years. Noranda will receive 500,000 Kelmet shares once the interest is earned, as well as 1 million shares should anything be brought into production. The major also retains a 1.5% net smelter return royalty, and it has entered into a back-in agreement (similar to its Duck Pond option) that allows it to form a joint operating company with Kelmet if the junior finds an economic reserve of 15 million tonnes or more.

Kelmet’s own work on the property has centred on another showing, Parking Lot, which lies southwest of the Daniel’s Pond deposit, about 2 km along strike. There, some preliminary drilling revealed stringer-style pyrite-sphalerite mineralization near the Daniel’s Pond horizon, as well as a chlorite-altered zone with stringers of chalcopyrite stratigraphically below.

Another private company, South Coast Ventures, holds a property immediately southeast of Kelmet, covering a 1.8-km strike length of Victoria River Belt volcanics. Earlier work by Noranda indicated rock-geochemical signatures suggestive of massive-sulphide mineralization, but these were never followed up. EM anomalies coincide with the favourable stratigraphy, which is along strike from the Bobby’s Pond deposit, previously outlined by Inco.

South Coast, headed by St. John’s-based geologist Charles Dearin, also holds the Burnt Pond prospect, which adjoins the Duck Pond-Boundary property on the northeast. Burnt Pond, a 1970s Noranda discovery, yielded some narrow intersections of massive sulphide on the Duck Pond horizon.

Farther to the southeast, Cornerstone Resources (CTP-V) has staked around the Haven Steady base metal prospect, another Noranda discovery. The property, called Noel Paul’s Brook, covers a 12-km belt of felsic volcanic rocks with numerous northeasterly striking EM conductors. In the northeastern part of the property, boulders made up of massive to stringer pyrite and chalcopyrite (unlike the Haven Steady mineralization, and therefore likely from another showing) have yet to be traced to their source. Linecutting is planned for this field season.