EXPLORATION ROUNDUP — Cambiex continues work at Sultana

A drilling program has returned encouraging results from the Sultana copper-gold project near the town of Mackay, Idaho, reports operator Cambiex Exploration (CBX-T).

A past producer, Sultana was explored by various companies before Cambior (CBJ-T) acquired the project in 1995. Previous work outlined a near-surface resource of 15 million tonnes grading 0.5% copper, plus significant gold values.

Cambiex has already earned a 15% stake in the project from Cambior and has funding in place to complete the next phase of exploration and thereby boost its interest to 30%. The junior can ultimately earn a 50% interest by investing a total of US$5 million in the project.

This year’s program tested a mineralized and oxidized skarn zone measuring about 300 metres wide by more than 1.5 km long. The geometry of the mineralized zone is deemed favorable for open-pit mining. Cambiex also notes that preliminary metallurgical results suggest that the copper and the gold mineralization are amenable to acid and cyanide heap-leach processing, respectively.

The junior hopes to advance the project to the prefeasibility stage next year.

Permitted claims

“We don’t anticipate problems with permitting,” says Cambiex President Jean Depatie. “The deposit lies in permitted claims which have already produced before, and this means three-quarters of the battle has already been won.

Plus Idaho is a pro-mining state.”

Highlights from drilling at Sultana include: 48.8 metres of 0.27% copper from 1.8 to 50.6 metres; 68.3 metres of 0.41% copper from 0.9 to 69.2 metres: 21.4 metres of 0.93% copper from 2.7 to 24.1 metres; 28 metres of 0.79% copper from 4.3 to 32.2 metres; 39.6 metres of 0.5% copper from 11.9 to 51.5 metres; 53.2 metres of 0.66% copper from 3.2 to 56.4 metres; and 63.1 metres of 0.63% copper from 10.7 to 73.8 metres.

While the old-timers never tested for gold, Cambiex’s drilling is returning gold values, including: 35.5 metres of 1 gram; 13.7 metres of 0.5 gram and 19.5 metres of 0.3 gram; 22.6 metres of 0.4 gram; and 4.1 metres of 5.7 grams. (Each of these intervals occurs in a significant copper interval.) “The gold is there, but it is not as even as the copper,” Depatie says, adding that a similar situation prevails for silver.

Cambiex has explored less than half the strike length of the target zone investigated by diamond drilling, and Depatie believes Sultana has potential to host a significant deposit.

Still, he points out that the project is not without challenges. More metallurgical tests are required to confirm recoveries, and the deposit contains barren dykes, which will have to be taken into account during reserve calculations.

In the meantime, Cambiex will continue to keep an eye out for new gold projects, particularly in Latin America, where parent Cambior has a strong presence.

Cambiex already has a 15% interest in the Yaou-Dorlin gold project in French Guinea, a joint venture involving Cambior, Golden Star Resources (GSC-T) and Guyanor Ressources (GRL-T). The Yaou project hosts a probable reserve of 10.3 million tonnes grading 2.7 grams gold, while drilling at Dorlin, 40 km east of Yaou, has returned gold mineralization of similar grade.

“We consider our interest in Yaou-Dorlin to be one of our key assets,” Depatie says.