Noranda cuts new zones in Matagami camp

Only two months since announcing its discovery, Noranda (NOR-T) has attached a resource to the Perseverance zinc-copper zone near its Matagami concentrator in northwestern Quebec.

Inferred resources are pegged at 947,000 tonnes grading 19.12% zinc, 1.37% copper, 32 grams silver per tonne and 0.4 gram gold. The estimate is based on results from 14 drill holes.

Also, two new zones have been cut by drilling. Dubbed Perseverance West and Equinox, the zones are each within 500 metres of Perseverance and have returned similar grades and widths.

At Perseverance West, seven of 11 holes suggest the zone is elongated in the north-south direction, though further drilling is needed to confirm this. The longest interval came from hole 18, which cut 89.3 metres (130.2-219.5 metres) grading 13.83% zinc, 1.68% copper, 27.12 grams silver and 0.49 gram gold, while the highest grade came from hole 27, which averaged 18.13% zinc, 1.64% copper, 48.53 grams silver and 0.81 gram gold over 11.3 metres (237.2-248.5 metres).

The Equinox zone lies between 100 and 300 metres of surface. Highlights from that zone include: 75.01 metres (256.46-331.47 metres) grading 12.24% zinc, 0.62% copper, 39.18 grams silver and 0.41 gram gold in hole EQ-3; and 8.9 metres (111.60-120.50 metres) grading 18.22% zinc, 1.22% copper, 18.19 grams silver and 0.19 gram gold in hole EQ-1.

Results from another four holes sunk at Equinox are pending.

Noranda now has five drills turning in the area, four of which are focused on the known zones and the remainder on untested anomalies. The main Perseverance zone began as a magnetic and coincident pulse electromagnetic conductor.