NAP

Rio Algom (ROM-T) has launched a 2,000-metre drill program on the South Findlay base metal property, near Kimberley in southeastern British Columbia.

Considered prospective for sedimentary exhalative deposits, the company is targeting the same stratigraphic horizon that hosts the nearby Sullivan lead-zinc deposit, which is being mined by Cominco (CLT-T).

The major can earn a 60% interest in the 66-sq.-km property from Cranbrook-based Eagle Plains Resources (EPL-V) by spending $2 million on exploration and paying $310,000 in cash over four years.

Eagle Plains began searching the area for Sullivan-type deposits in 1995. Its work consisted of stream-sediment and soil geochemistry surveys. The property has never been drilled.