Lord River set to drill Pellaire property

Drilling is scheduled to begin within the month on Lord River Gold Mines’ Pellaire property 120 miles north of Vancouver. Cons. Silver Standard Mines is the company’s largest shareholder with a 41% interest, followed by Teck Corp. with 24.9%.

A detailed examination of mineral showings on the property was first conducted by the B.C. Department of Mines in 1937. High gold values were reported from sample material at the time and a Noranda subsidiary, Pellaire M ines, drilled the property in 1945. The company drove adits on four veins a few years later. Silver Standard held the property for several years and completed an access road and airstrip in 1980. No work has been done on the property since 1981.

Significant gold values were returned from at least five veins on the property, three of which have been partially explored by adits. Lord River President Robert Quartermain says the upcoming $420,000 drill program will focus on the Nos 3, 4, and 5 veins which are all accessible by adit.

Probable reserves are 34,000 tons grading 0.67 oz gold and 2.34 oz silver with some 40,000 tons of similar grade material in the possible class. This reserve is calculated from surface to a depth of 250 ft but he notes the veins “extend much deeper.”

The program cost will be shared equally with Imperial Metals. Most of the drilling will be shallow although one or two deep holes are planned, possibly to 1,500 ft. “Based on the presence of additional untested veins on the property, the prospect of increasing the current reserves is excellent,” he says.