Queenston bulking up at Upper Beaver

Queenston Mining‘s (QMI-T) flagship project in Kirkland Lake is growing more robust.

The company now has results from 17 surface holes from its wholly owned Upper Beaver property and is set to deliver more ounces to the market in an upcoming resource estimate update.

The latest round of drilling extended the new Footwall zone and further defined the Porphyry, North Contact and Q zones as well.

But the highlight assay was from the Footwall zone, which returned the company’s best interval to date of 22 metres grading 18.4 grams gold with 1.1% copper. The hole intersected the zone at a vertical depth of 1,275 metres and extended it over a dip length of 100 metres where it remains open.

Footwall is below the deposit’s main Porphyry Zone near the south-eastern contact of the Beaverhouse Syenite Intrusive Complex.

Other stellar intercepts from the 11,000 metres drilled included: 13 metres grading 21.8 grams gold and 5 metres grading 12.8 grams gold and 2.4% copper in the Porphyry zone; 2.3 metres grading 7.8 grams gold and 10.8% copper in the Upper Footwall zone and 91 metres grading 2.1 grams gold and 96 metres grading 1.2 grams gold and 0.2% in the North Contact zone.

Six drills continue to turn at Upper Beaver, pushing towards an updated mineral resource that is due out by the end of the month.

Queenston also says that permits for a new 1,300 metre deep shaft should arrive shortly and will further its push toward feasibility and eventual production in 2016.

Its recent preliminary economic study considered a 2,000 tonne per day mill that would produce on average 120,000 oz. gold and 5.3 million lbs. copper per year.

The study used the current mineral resource from Upper Beaver, which outlines indicated resources of 3.07 million tonnes grading 7 grams gold for 690,000 oz. with 0.5% copper for 36.6 million lbs. of copper and inferred resources of 3.1 million tonnes grading 6.2 grams gold for 616,000 oz. gold with 0.4% copper for 28 million lbs. copper.

That estimate doesn’t include drill results from 2011 or 2012. During 2011 the company drilled 84 drill holes for 41,019 metres at the project.

All of Queenston’s assets are situated in the Kirkland Lake gold camp as it has a total of 230 sq. km of exploration land.

Beyond Upper Beaver the company is advancing five other deposits within trucking distance of a future mill at Upper Beaver, with the vision that the deposits provide feed for the central milling facility.

When all six deposits are grouped together the company has indicated resources of 9.1 million tonnes grading 5 grams gold for 1.46 million oz. and inferred resources of 11.6 million tonnes grading 5.2 grams gold for 1.94 million oz.

Queenston currently has $90 million in cash and short-term investments and no debt.