Lac Rocher intersection excites market — Nuinsco cuts 10.8% nickel in drill hole

A 3.2-metre drill intersection grading 10.8% nickel has sparked a lively land play in the Lac Evans area, about 120 km northeast of Matagami, Que.

Nuinsco Resources (NWI-T) reported on Jan. 20 that a drill hole on its nickel-copper prospect near Lac Rocher had cut disseminated to massive sulphides over a length of about 80 metres, and followed up with an announcement the next day that a 61.5-metre section of core had shown an average nickel grade of 1.69%, including a 3.2-metre interval with 10.8%.

Nuinsco’s stock price closed at $2.10 on Jan. 21, up from 75 cents the previous day, with more than 4.5 million shares traded. It peaked at $2.50 on Jan. 22 and had held above $2 up to presstime.

The nickel discovery is the product of a property acquisition in early 1998, when three Rouyn-based prospectors — Pierre Gervais, Eduard Chartres and Gilles Chouinard — dealt Nuinsco an option on the property in exchange for $25,000 cash, 50,000 shares, and a $50,000 work commitment. The prospectors also retained a 50 cents-per-tonne royalty on any production, and they will receive a further $50,000 and 100,000 shares in the second year of the 3-year deal.

The prospectors had already sampled disseminated sulphide mineralization from a small outcrop that had been marked for ground-checking when Monopros, the Canadian diamond-exploration arm of De Beers Consolidated Mines (DBRSY-Q), was examining magnetic anomalies to find kimberlite intrusions. Their sampling returned grades of 0.71% nickel and 0.38% copper in a 14-metre channel (T.N.M., April 6/98).

An induced-polarization (IP) survey over the property turned up a chargeable zone centred north of the showing, which Nuinsco drilled last spring, finding only biotite-rich gneiss. On stepping back and drilling farther south, Nuinsco intersected 41.7 metres of disseminated sulphides in gabbro and norite, which graded an average of 0.43% nickel and 0.19% copper; another hole on the same section line cut 55 metres with average grades of 0.49% nickel and 0.23% copper.

Two more holes to the northeast intersected shorter sections of gabbroic rocks with comparable grades.

From the next drill setup, 50 metres farther southeast, two of three holes intersected more disseminated sulphides, including one that averaged 0.5% nickel and 0.22% copper over 102 metres, until it was cut off by a granite dyke.

The picture that appeared once that phase of drilling was complete showed a mineralized zone plunging to the south-southeast. When Nuinsco returned to the property early this year, the first hole, collared another 50 metres southeast, intersected 61.5 metres of disseminated to massive sulphides, grading an average of 1.69% nickel and 0.49% copper.

A second hole, drilled to the northeast from the same setup, intersected some minor disseminations of sulphide near the margin of the gabbro, and a third, 700 metres northeast, tested a separate geophysical anomaly without finding any mineralization.

The sulphides, disseminated in the upper parts of the first drill hole, become semi-massive and then massive with increasing depth. Nickel grade tends to be about a tenth of the sulphide content — for example, 10% sulphides will generally assay at 1% nickel.

The sulphide minerals are pyrrhotite, chalcopyrite and pentlandite, with minor (apparently secondary) pyrite. The pentlandite grains are large — up to 1 cm — suggesting that the sulphides may have had a long time to cool and were near equilibrium with the gabbro magma.

Several other companies have announced that they are tying up ground in the area. The pole position is thought to have gone to Freewest Resources Canada (FWR-T) and Murgor Resources (MUG-M), which already had four crews in the immediate area; those crews are staking blocks for each company.

Moss Resources (MRS-T) has staked claims in the area over a magnetic anomaly similar to Nuinsco’s. Goldeye Explorations (GEYE-C) and partner Novawest Resources (NVE-V) have announced they have staked some claims and are staking more, over geophysical targets.

Two other partners, Maude Lake Exploration (MAU-M) and Sirios Resources (SOI-M), have two crews in the field and are staking. International CanAlaska Resources (ICA-V) and Strike Minerals (STRK-C) are both negotiating to acquire ground.

Searchgold Resources (RSQ-M) already held a 7-claim property near Mt. Scott, 3 km north of Lac Rocher. There, ground magnetic and electromagnetic surveys in 1997 and 1998 confirmed conductors that were detected in earlier government-sponsored airborne surveys.

Nuinsco is operating from a large logging camp west of the property, which has road access to the James Bay Highway. The prospect is only accessible by helicopter, which both increases the expense and forces the drillers to time their shifts for daylight flying. The company hopes to clear a 10-km winter road into the area for drilling, and to bring in a full camp and fuel for use through the rest of the year.

Nuinsco’s next move is to drill on a stepout 50 metres to the southeast, in an attempt to intersect the zone on its down-plunge extension, at about 200 metres vertical depth. The IP anomalies do not persist farther south, but that may not mean much, as the structural extension of the mineralized zone is probably too deep for the IP array to have seen.

Drilling to depths greater than 200 metres is unlikely to be practical with the drill now on site, so pushing in a tractor road will assume considerable importance as work progresses.