Recent drilling by Placer Dome (PDG-T) at Claude Resources‘ (CRJ-T) Madsen gold property in the Red Lake camp of northwestern Ontario, has cut four separate gold mineralized structures.
The second round of drilling was aimed at testing for an up-dip extension of the high-grade No. 8 zone at the historic Madsen mine.
Two pilot holes were each followed by a wedge hole for a total of 4,432 metres of drilling. The four holes covered 500 metres of strike length at depths halfway between surface and the old No. 8 zone workings.
Three of the four zones cut yielded grades ranging between 4 and 5 grams gold per tonne over 1 to 3 metres. The remaining zone returned two intervals running up to 3 grams gold over 1.2 metres and 1.2 grams over 0.9 metre.
The latest geological and geochemical studies have outlined 10 km of strike length over the northeast strike extension of the mafic-ultramafic contact that hosts No. 8. The studies will continue with the aim of defining future drilling targets.
Placer plans a third round of drilling to drill test the down-dip extension of the No. 8 zone from surface. Drilling of a long pilot hole followed by three or four wedges is slated for early in 2002.
Earlier this summer, four holes tested 975 metres of strike length along the interpreted trace of the mafic-ultramafic contact. The holes defined a roughly repetitive stratigraphy similar to that hosting the No. 8 zone, as well as high-grade mineralization similar to that found at Placer’s nearby Campbell mine and Goldcorp‘s (G-T) adjacent Red Lake mine. Also, the fourth hole averaged 0.81 gram per tonne over a 9.45-metre interval that has been tentatively connected to the No. 8 zone. The interval included 1.16 metres grading 4.1 grams.
Between 1938 and 1976, Madsen produced 2.4 million oz. of gold from 24 levels extending 1,219 metres below surface. The deposit is structurally controlled, and gold mineralization is hosted by parallel mafic tuff units known as Austin and McVeigh, with the former sitting in the hangingwall of the later and accounting for virtually all historic output.
Placer can earn a 55% stake in the historic producer in return for $8.2 million in exploration expenditures over three years and a feasibility study in the following two years. The company must spend at least $1.5 million on the project during 2002.
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