Goldcorp finds more Red Lake nuggets

Goldcorp (G-T) has turned up more jewelry-box grades at the Red Lake mine in northwestern Ontario.

Deep hole 860DW cut 4.9 metres grading an impressive 474 grams gold per tonne. The exploratory hole was drilled between two others that averaged 167 grams over 4.4 metres and 35.3 grams over 0.85 metre.

The deep holes extend, by 122 metres downdip, the HW5 lens — the largest of several comprising the High Grade zone. The extension is below the known resource envelope, suggesting a revision is forthcoming.

“Our High Grade zone is going deeper, getting thicker and becoming more continuous,” says President Robert McEwen, adding that “the infill drilling keeps bolstering our confidence . . . in this orebody, as it is running a healthy margin above our reserve grade.”

At last report, reserves in the High Grade zone were pegged at 1.68 million tonnes averaging 69.26 grams gold. Another 430,003 tonnes grading 92.57 grams gold were classified as an inferred resource. Both estimates are based on a gold price of US$275 per oz.

Drilling is also pulling encouraging results from the footwall and eastern target areas, though the opposite appears to be true for the Western target, where a 0.91-metre section of 118 grams remains an anomaly.

To date, Goldcorp has drilled 20 holes into the footwall of the High Grade zone. Mineralization now appears to be more continuous and widespread than previously thought.

The best values from recent drilling were 272 grams over 1.22 metres, 97.3 grams over 3.05 metres, and 80.8 grams over 1.28 metres. Also, the FW4 zone has been extended 91.4 metres to the east and seems to be a single lens.

At the Far East target, four holes identified the most continuous lens discovered in that area so far. Results include: 48.7 grams over 8.3 metres; 11.2 grams over 2.13 metres; 21.3 grams over 8.26 metres; and 16.1 grams over 2.9 metres.

The zone extends 152 metres vertically and is 366 metres east of the old workings. A series of stepout holes came back dry.

Mineralization is refractory, but more favourable quartz-carbonate mineralization is known to occur in the area.

Goldcorp is also exploring around the nearby historic Cochenour mine. Between 1939 and 1971, the mine cranked out more than 1 million oz. from ore having a life-of-mine average of 18.5 grams per tonne.

Drilling over the past year has focused on the Abino, Chevron and Marcus prospects, all of which display geological characteristics similar to those found at Red Lake.

The best results from Abino were 0.77 metre grading 621 grams gold and 1.5 metres grading 100 grams, whereas 15.7 grams over 7 metres highlighted Chevron. Each section lies within 305 metres of surface, though previous explorers turned up deeper intervals.

Marcus is southeast of Chevron and returned up to 49.8 grams gold over 1 metre. Here, a southeasterly trending zone of crosscutting structures play a role in mineralization. Such structures are believed to have facilitated mineral deposition at Red Lake.

Meanwhile, Goldcorp has begun drilling at the Confederation property of Tri Origin Exploration (toe-v). The miner must spend $340,000 on exploration to earn a 70% interest in the 218 claims, which sit 35 km southeast of the Red Lake mine.

Drilling is following up polymetallic soil anomalies detected immediately north of a postulated fold hinge. The underlying stratigraphy is thought to represent a sequence of mafic volcanics, iron formation and related chemical sedimentary rocks.

The Confederation property is near the South Bay mine, where 1.6 million tonnes grading 14% zinc, 2.5% copper and 120 grams silver per tonne were produced by Selco Mining between 1971 and 1981.