Goldbrook picks up ground in Ungava

Vancouver Junior Goldbrook Ventures (GBK-V) has added new ground to its promising portfolio of projects in the Ungava region of Quebec.

The Mike Magrum-led company inked two deals, one with Inlet Resources (INS-V) to earn up to 80% in 74,280 acres of ground to the east of Falconbridge‘s (FL-T) Raglan nickel-copper mine, and the other with Masuparia Gold (MPG-V) to earn up to an 80% interest in 71,252 acres to the west of Canadian Royalties (CZZ-V) property.

Under both deals, Goldbrook can earn a 60% stake by spending $3.5 million and issuing 500,000 shares. The company can then take another 10% interest by spending at least $5 million more, plus another 10% by arranging project financing. The property is subject to a 1% net smelter return royalty, one-half on which Goldbrook can purchase for $1 million.

The junior has been active in the region since late in 2002 picking up more than 100,000 acres of ground surrounding Canadian Royalties property.

Over the past three years, Canadian Royalties has been aggressively exploring a 35-km-long sequence of ultramafic rocks 15 km south of the Raglan mine in a region known as the South trend. The property hosts three mineralized structures, Expo, Cominga and Mesamax, all of which were discovered in the 1960s. The junior sparked interest in the project last year by reporting a series of high-grade drill intercepts at the Mesamax zone (T.N.M., Nov 18-24/02).

Based on 41 drill holes, consulting firm Strathcona Mineral Services pegged the indicated resource at 1.45 million tonnes grading 2.1% nickel, 2.7% copper and 0.08% cobalt, plus 0.3 gram gold, 1 gram platinum and 4.2 grams palladium per tonne. The resource includes 700,000 tonnes grading 3.5% nickel, 4.4% copper, 0.14% cobalt, 0.5 gram gold, 1.4 grams platinum and 4 grams palladium in the massive sulphide section, and 750,000 tonnes grading 0.8% nickel, 1.1% copper, 0.04% cobalt, 0.1 gram gold, 0.6 gram platinum and 4.4 grams palladium in the disseminated sulphide portion.

An additional 130,000 tonnes grading 2.1% nickel, 2.5% copper, 0.09% cobalt, 0.3 gram gold, 1.1 grams platinum and 3.9 grams palladium are in the inferred category. Of this, disseminated sulphide mineralization represents 105,000 tonnes grading 0.8% nickel, 1.2% copper, 0.04% cobalt, 0.1 gram gold, 0.5 gram platinum and 3.7 grams palladium.

Mineralization on the property is believed to occur at the transition from shallow sub-volcanic feeder sills into channelized lava flows. Early studies of the mineralization indicate a magmatic sulphide deposit, with form and structure resembling komatiite-hosted “Kambalda-type” deposits but with the composition suggesting a “Norilsk-type” deposit. (The Norilsk region in Siberia is the largest producer of palladium in the world, and the second-largest producer of nickel and copper.)

Raglan is a typical komatiite deposit with a nickel-copper ratio of 5-to-1, whereas Mesamax has a nickel-copper ratio of 1-to-1. The mineralization at Mesamax is also equally weighted between massive and disseminated sulphides.

Moving 3.2 km west, Strathcona also calculated a limited resource estimate for the eastern portion of the TK zone. Based on only 27 holes, TK holds an indicated resource of 90,000 tonnes grading 1.6% nickel, 1.2% copper, 0.1% cobalt, 0.1 gram gold, 0.4 gram platinum and 2 grams palladium. The inferred resource stands at a modest 7,000 tonnes averaging 1.6% nickel, 1% copper, 0.11% cobalt, no gold, 0.4 gram platinum and 1.6 grams palladium.

Both Mesamax and TK remain open to expansion in several directions.

Earlier this year, Canadian Royalties cut a new zone 25 km west of the Mesamax zone. Dubbed Tootoo, this latest find is the third massive sulphide occurrence discovered by the junior in the past two years.

The best drill results came from hole 2, which yielded 2% nickel, 1.91% copper, 0.11% cobalt, 0.6 gram platinum and 2.62 grams palladium over 22 metres. Included in this section was a higher-grade portion running 3.14% nickel, 2.56% copper, 0.17% cobalt, 0.8 gram platinum and 2.6 grams palladium over 10.5 metres.