New zone expands resource at Francoeur

A new gold zone discovered by Richmont Mines (RIC-T) at its Francoeur mine, west of Rouyn-Noranda, Que., promises to add significantly to reserves.

The new No. 7 zone, a steeply dipping structure that crosses the main east-west Cadillac Break, has a resource of 285,000 tons grading 0.22 oz.

gold per ton. The zone is wide, with true widths ranging from 5.5 to 13.6 ft.

in recent drill holes. Gold grades in the No. 7 zone range from 0.1 to 0.32 oz. per ton over the same widths.

The zone, first intersected at the 600-ft. level, is open downdip and in both directions along strike. The wall rocks are competent silicified gabbro, the strength of which, combined with the zone’s width and dip of between 65 to 75, will enable Richmont to use inexpensive longhole stoping as the mining method.

The No. 7 zone is the second in as many years to be discovered at Francoeur.

The West zone, discovered in 1996, added 145,000 tons grading 0.17 oz. per ton to the resource base. The zones are believed to be faulted extensions of the main Francoeur-Wasa structure, which has provided most of the mine’s mineralization.

The current reserve base — 1.1 million tons grading 0.2 oz. gold — is larger than when the mine started production in October 1991. A consulting firm is reviewing reserve calculations at the operation, and a report is expected by year-end.