Lake Shore tests Thunder Creek

Vancouver — Drilling by Lake Shore Gold (LSG-V) has confirmed the presence of two gold-bearing zones at the Thunder Creek property, near Timmins, Ont.

The property is south of, and contiguous to, Lake Shore’s Timmins property, which hosts an uncut resource containing 724,000 oz. gold (indicated) and 200,000 oz. (inferred).

Lake Shore optioned the Thunder Creek property from Band-Ore Resources (BAN-T) and can earn 60% by spending $1.7 million on exploration over five years. The company must also pay $370,000 and issue Band-Ore 100,000 of its shares over four years.

The first round of drilling, in late 2003 and early 2004, resulted in a highlight of 3.7 grams gold per tonne over 3.9 metres, including 9 grams over 0.8 metre within ultramafic rocks.

Twelve holes totalling 4,095 metres were drilled late last year. The program tested the main ultramafic complex and followed-up previously intersected mineralization, as well as anomalous gold values obtained from soil and rock samples.

A drill-intercept averaging 0.82 gram gold over 25.8 metres, including 5.84 grams over 2.05 metres, was returned from a newly identified zone, which occurs as a series of shear structures. The gold-bearing structure extends for at least 250 metres along strike, and is more than 350 metres deep. Stripping and trenching have extended the zone another 200 metres, and airborne magnetics suggest it may continue along an ultramafic-to-sediment contact for more than 2 km.

A second deformation zone extends easterly across the ultramafic intrusion. The mineralized shear zone is variably altered and intruded by felsic dykes. Drilling returned values of up to 1.42 grams gold over 2.8 metres and 5.25 grams over 1 metre. The zone is largely unexplored and extends, it would seem, over a strike length exceeding 1.5 km.

Lake Shore intends to define drill targets along strike and down-plunge from the mineralized structures, and to outline new targets in other areas.