High-grade gold intercepts at Rubicon’s Phoenix project

The Phoenix gold project’s new F2 zone in Ontario’s Red Lake District is yielding high-grade gold intercepts for Rubicon Minerals (RMX-T, RBY-X).

Highlights of the latest drilling at the company’s 100%-controlled Phoenix project are assay results from Hole F2-9, which returned an interval grading 28.7 grams gold per tonne over 15.5 metres, including 52.6 grams gold per tonne over 7.4 metres, and 353.8 grams gold per tonne over 0.9 metres.

The new intercepts seem to be associated with a separate structure from that hosting the quartz-rich high grade intercepts in Hole F2-07 (36.5 grams per tonne over 8 metres) and Hole F2-08 (42.4 grams gold per tonne over 11 metres) that were previously reported in March.

The F2 zone is characterized by abundant visible gold within altered mafic volcanic rocks. Drilling so far indicates two dominant styles of gold mineralization over a 300 by 80 metre inferred strike length. The mineralization includes high-grade gold intercepts associated with quartz-rich zones containing appreciable visible gold and sulphide-bearing intercepts (2-15% sulphides) containing variable gold grades.

The mineralized system is open at depth and along strike. The mineralization occurs below a major ultramafic-mafic contact, “which is considered important since major historic and existing gold deposits in the Red Lake gold district are developed within a similar setting,” the company stated in a press release.

A total of 17 holes have been completed at F2 to date. Of these, assays are pending for eight drill holes. Additional drilling is necessary to determine true thicknesses.

The relatively shallow F2 Zone (225-525 metres) is only 450 metres east of the currently flooded 142-metre exploration shaft. The shaft could facilitate year-round underground exploration access to this zone if additional drilling from surface provide sufficient encouragement.

The junior exploration company has about $27 million in cash and controls more than 748 sq km of prime exploration ground in the Red Lake gold camp.

In Toronto, Rubicon currently trades at $1.45 per share and has a 52-week range of 95-$2.54. It has 147.8 million shares outstanding.