Fairfield pulls high-grade gold values

Underground drilling is returning multi-ounce gold values at the Siwash North project owned by Fairfield Minerals (TSE) near Merritt, B.C.

Fairfield is in the midst of a 25,000-ft., 200-hole, underground drilling program designed to better define high-grade gold shoots identified by surface drilling. Previous estimates put the underground resource at about 180,000 oz., based on an average grade of 1 oz. per ton.

Gold mineralization at Siwash North is hosted in narrow quartz veins, and the company is testing the down-dip extent of the main vein structure below the open pit mined from 1992 to 1994.

Gold output totaled 47,500 oz. from the open pit, plus a further 3,750 oz. mined from an underground test-stope last year. Tonnage mined to date from the property amounts to 18,000 tons grading an average of 2.86 oz. gold per ton.

Fairfield President John Stollery points out that drill results have, in general, under-represented actual gold grades. Initial wide-spaced drilling with the current pit limits indicated a gold reserve of only 25,000 oz., or about half the actual production.

The recent underground drilling has identified a new shoot within the main vein structure, returning 3 oz. gold and 1.9 oz. silver over 1 ft. in hole 104; 5.8 oz. gold and 4.4 oz. silver over 1.1 ft. in hole 105; 3.59 oz. gold and 1.36 oz. silver over 1.1 ft. in hole 108; 4.53 oz. gold and 2.87 oz. silver over 1.6 ft. in hole 109; and 2.8 oz. gold plus 1.79 oz. silver over 1.3 ft. in hole 115.

The drilling returned a number of other impressive results including 7.18 oz. gold and 3.9 oz. silver over 1.6 ft. plus 3.55 oz. gold and 5.9 oz. silver over 1 ft. in hole 118, which is located within a high-grade shoot identified by previous surface drilling.

Following completion of the underground drilling program, Fairfield plans to conduct drifting and raising on the high-grade shoots from existing underground workings in order to block out reserves.

The company also expects to begin a surface drilling program in July to further define shoots in the mine area and to test the potential for on-strike expansion of the open pit. The surface drilling will also test for other vein systems previously identified by trenching in areas south of the mine.

Fairfield’s operating success over the past few years has left it in excellent financial shape with about $5 million in working capital, plus stockpiles containing an estimated 12,000 oz. gold. The company has no long-term debt and about 7 million shares outstanding.