Underground drilling at the Red Lake gold mine in northwestern Ontario has cut the deepest and richest section of mineralization ever found there, reports
Hole 37-032AW returned an astonishing 10.8 oz. per ton over 70 ft. The intersection was the last, and best, in a series of 10 that began 2,488 ft. down-hole and ended at 2,826 ft.
The hole was a wedge off an earlier one, 37-032, which returned similar results. The original sliced through 8 sections, of which the best three ran 3.53 oz. over 58 ft., 3.81 oz. over 8 ft. and 4.4 oz. over 4.4 ft.
Goldcorp notes that the holes are the only ones that have returned multiple zones of mineralization below the known resource envelope. They extend the known depth of the High Grade zone to 6,850 ft., or nearly 100 ft. deeper than before.
Drilling has also intersected mineralization beneath the so-called Footwall zones. The zones are 1,500 ft. east of the Hanging Wall 5 zone, which, like them, is one of several that make up the High Grade zone.
Results include: 0.38 oz. over 2 ft. (starting at 1,644 ft. down-hole) in hole 34-1052; 0.62 oz. over 5 ft. (at 1,598 ft.) in hole 34-1053; and 0.76 oz. over 3.3 ft. (at 1,811 ft.) plus 0.62 oz. over 3 ft. (at 1,837 ft.) in hole 34-1054. The deepest interval ends 6,500 ft. below surface, or 1,000 ft. vertically beneath the reserve limit in that area.
Mineralization is similar in style to most other shoots in the High Grade zone, being structurally controlled along distinct lineations. Goldcorp now estimates that 75% of the gold mineralization at Red Lake occurs along or beside such structures.
Meanwhile, at the Far East zone, several new holes add weight to the theory that the mineralization there is controlled by two parallel linear structures. One is considered to be the upward projection of the same structure that hosts the High Grade zone; the other lies to the east.
Several recent holes that tested the upward projection returned 1.06 oz. over 2.5 ft. and 0.41 oz. over 15 ft. The former is part of a wider, 37.5-ft. interval that averaged 0.34 oz.
The second trend, which is being drill-tested from level 34, returned an intersection of 1.84 oz. over 26 ft. The two next best intersections graded 0.69 ft. over 5 ft. and 0.43 oz. over 4.9 ft.
The recent series of holes tested the Far East zone over a vertical distance of 1,200 ft. and a lateral distance of 400 ft. Not all of that area is mineralized, given the number of recent holes that came back dry.
Goldcorp is also testing the depths of the Sulphide zone, having begun to ship samples of refractory concentrate to the Goldstrike operation of
Recent holes varied from 0.1 to 1.98 oz. over widths of 1.5-21 ft. The highest grade was averaged over 7 ft. of core, and it appears that it aligns with the structural model for the Western Complex.
The Sulphide zone has been intersected to a vertical depth of 7,200 ft. — 2,800 ft. below the old workings. The aim here is to establish mineralized continuity so that new workings can be developed in the future.
In the first eight months of the year, Goldcorp mined 162,000 tons from the High Grade zone to produce 349,714 oz. The latter amount includes 3,837 oz. wrung from the concentrate shipped to Barrick.
Headgrades averaged 2.26 oz. per ton, and recovery rates, 90.7%.
Goldcorp says it remains on track to produce 500,000 oz. in 2002, at a cash cost of US$65 per oz. That is 5% less than it had predicted before it decided to allocate resources to the exploration program.
By year-end, about US$12 million is expected to have been spent on exploration. This is the largest budget the company has ever assigned its exploration crews.
At last report, the High Grade zone hosted a reserve of 1.85 million tons grading 2.05 oz. per ton and a resource of 484,000 tons grading 2.84 oz. The estimates are based on gold price of US$275 per oz. and exclude results from the 2002 drill program.
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