Pacifica encouraged by DMS test for Howard’s Pass

Vancouver – Dense media separation (DMS) technology could improve the economic potential of the Howard’s Pass zinc-lead deposit, reports new operator Pacifica Resources (PAX-V).

The Vancouver-based junior holds rights to acquire 100% of the advanced project for $10 million, payable over seven years. The company controls about 35 km of favorable ground in the Selwyn Basin of eastern Yukon, straddling the border with the Northwest Territories.

Several major companies explored Howard’s Pass in the 1970s and ’80s. This work outlined a historic resource (pre-dating National Instrument 43-101 reporting standards) of about 115 million tonnes grading 5.4% zinc and 2.1% lead. This shallow resource is part of a larger body of mineralization hosted in stratabound, sedimentary exhalative (SEDEX) zones that originally formed on the seafloor.

The recently completed preliminary DMS gravity test-work was carried out on samples from a dump of the XY deposit. The combined zinc-lead head-grade of the sample was 21.8%, which was upgraded to 29%, with lead and zinc recoveries of 98% and 97%, respectively.

The latest tests compared favorably with gravity test-work carried out by a previous operator in 1977 on diamond-drill core, which showed lead and zinc recoveries of 87% and 76%, respectively.

Pacifica notes that the positive results show potential for pre-concentration of mineralization from a wide range of run-of-mine grades at Howard’s Pass. As a next step, the company plans to carry out a laboratory-scale program to test samples from known deposits. Godfrey McDonald, a metallurgist who introduced a commercial DMS plant at the Nanisivik mine in Canada’s High Arctic in 2000, will supervise the test program. (Breakwater Resources owns the Nanisivik mine.)

Pacifica says successful application of DMS technology at Howard’s Pass could enhance the mining plan and processing by "significantly upgrading the mill feed prior to the grinding and flotation stages for the production of salable, selective concentrates."

The company recently launched a $3.5 million exploration program in the Howard’s Pass district. The main goal of the program is to increase higher-grade resources, particularly in the XY zone, which at last report hosted a resource of about 15.4 million tonnes grading 17% combined zinc-lead. The results of this work will be used for a preliminary evaluation of potential development plans later this year.