First Dynasty tallies reserves for Dublin Gulch

First Dynasty Mines (TSE) reports that its Dublin Gulch project in the Yukon contains more than 1 million oz. gold.

Minable reserves for the porphyry deposit stand at 32.8 million tons grading 0.027 oz. per ton. Inferred resources are estimated at 6.9 million tons grading 0.025 oz. per ton.

The deposit was discovered in 1991 by Ivanhoe Goldfields, which subsequently optioned it to Amax Gold. In 1994, the property was returned to Ivanhoe, which, two years later, became a wholly owned subsidiary of First Dynasty.

More than 151 holes, comprising 80,000 ft., have been drilled since 1991.

Exploration on the 166-sq.-km property has been concentrated on the Eagle sulphide zone, which consists of sheeted, quartz-vein mineralization within a Cretaceous, granodiorite stock. Mineralization extends over a length of 2,600 ft. and is open to the southeast. The vertical extent has been tested to a depth of 800 ft.

Previous evaluations suggest the Eagle zone contains more than 100 million tons.

First Dynasty envisages an open-pit mine, with a waste-to-ore ratio of 0.5-to-1. The material would be heap-leached.

It is estimated that a large resource of lower-grade mineralization outside the pit area could contain 2 million oz. gold. Drilling will determine if this material can be converted into reserves.

The Olive, Shamrock and Steiner zones are geologically similar to the Eagle but have yet to be explored systematically. “The upside potential here is excellent,” says Stephen Stine, vice-president of operations for First Dynasty.

Adjacent to Dublin Gulch is a small resource of tungsten mineralization in skarns. The area is also known to host tin skarns.

First Dynasty has been conducting baseline studies in preparation for a feasibility study, which is scheduled for April.

First Dynasty’s co-chairman and president, Timothy Haddon, has planned a busy year for Dublin Gulch. “We expect a positive project decision following the feasibility study,” he says.

If all goes as planned, construction on the 5-million-ton-per-year operation could begin in the summer of 1997. Gold could be poured by the fourth quarter of that year.