Thunderwood to be operator at Falconbridge gold bet

An amended agreement between partners Thunderwood Resources (TSE) and Falconbridge Ltd. has paved the way for renewed exploration at the Pelletier Lake gold project near Rouyn-Noranda, Que.

After a year of waiting for Falconbridge to table its plans for the project, Thunderwood has the option to emerge as majority owner and project operator by spending about $3.5 million on surface drilling and underground exploration.

Thunderwood already holds a 35% stake at Pelletier Lake after spending $3 million to fund an 80,000-ft. surface drilling program operated by Falconbridge.

In October, 1988, when drilling ceased, Falconbridge had outlined a shallow gold deposit containing 973,000 tons of grade 0.20 oz. gold per ton (including 540,000 tons of 0.29 oz.) in drill-indicated reserves.

The deposit is in a gold-bearing shear 6,800 ft. west of the former Stadacona gold mine, which produced three million tons of grade 0.16 oz. gold from 1928 to 1958.

Under a new agreement, Thunderwood’s project interest would rise to 51% after it completes 10,000 ft. of surface drilling and an underground program scheduled to begin this summer and finish in 1991. At that point Falconbridge’s interest drops to 50% from 65%.

“We think the potential exists here to develop a mine,” said Thunderwood President John Heslop. All reserves outlined to date are above the 650-ft. level and the deposit remains open downdip to the northeast and southeast. The gold-bearing shear zone dips 40 degrees to the southeast and has been traced downdip for about 1,600 ft. and along strike for up to 1,050 ft.

To establish better control for future drifting in ore and provide engineering data for ramp design, Thunderwood is planning to drill at 50 ft. centres along strike. Heslop says his company will also drill at the northeast and southeast limits of the deposit where it remains open.

Although gold was extracted from the Stadacona mine via a 4,145-ft., 3-compartment shaft, Heslop says the underground workings are too far from the deposit to be a factor in his exploration plans.

Most of the funds for the new program are to be raised via flow- through financing arrangements in the 1990-91 exploration year, Heslop says.