Meliadine drilling cuts gold values

Drilling on the Meliadine project near Rankin Inlet, N.W.T., is returning gold values for joint owners Cumberland Resources (VSE) and Comaplex Resources (TSE).

The current program includes closely spaced drilling on the “F” grid target, as well as widely spaced reconnaissance drilling along the grid’s 5,000 ft. of strike.

The closely spaced drilling confirmed the continuity of gold mineralization to a minimum depth of 200 ft. below surface for a strike length of at least 165 ft.

New results from the lower tier of holes include 30 ft. grading 0.20 oz. gold per ton in Hole 94-97, 94 ft. of 0.21 oz. in 94-95 and 21 ft. grading 0.31 oz. in 94-93.

The previously released tier of holes included 90.5 ft. grading 0.23 oz. in 93-43, 73 ft. of 0.39 oz. in 94-79, 16.4 ft. of 0.19 oz. and 36 ft. of 0.28 oz. in 94-77, and 22.3 ft. grading 0.31 oz. in 93-37.

To date, five gold zones have been intersected over a strike length of 4,200 ft. on the “F” target. As a result of the reconnaissance nature of the drilling, these other zones have only been tested with one or two holes. The drilling returned values ranging from 0.12 oz. over 10 ft. up to 0.29 oz. over 20 ft. from seven holes.

Results from a further 15 holes on the “F” target are pending. Glen Dickson, president of Cumberland, said this year’s property work is essentially complete and the company is now collating data.

Gold mineralization on the Meliadine project is associated with several horizons of highly deformed banded iron-formation.

The “F” grid target is part of the property’s Wes-Meg prospect, which, in turn, forms one of a series of prospect areas stretching for at least 40 miles along the Pyke Break, a regional fault tangential to the iron formation units.

Gold mineralization has been identified in numerous areas along the Pyke Break, with the Discovery prospect representing the most detailed work. Previous work on the Discovery prospect, about 8 miles to the southeast along strike from Wes-Meg, outlined a preliminary mineral inventory of 900,000 tons grading 0.29 oz.