Globex gains Poirier base metal property

Rouyn-Noranda-based Globex Mining Enterprises (GMX-T) has secured the mineral rights to the past-producing Poirier copper-zinc mine, near Joutel in northwestern Quebec.

In a complex deal involving minimal cash, Globex acquired five claims at Poirier. Company president Jack Stoch says the deal leaves Globex free and clear of future royalty payments and any environmental liabilities relating to past operations at the site.

Under Rio Algom (ROM-T), the Poirier mine operated between 1966 and 1975, during which time it produced 4.7 million tons grading 2.22% copper and another 748,000 tons grading 5.58% zinc and 0.33% copper. Underground workings consisted of a 2,900-ft. shaft with 18 levels. Rio is currently involved in the management of Poirier’s tailings.

A prefeasibility study, prepared in 1990 for junior Bonanza Metals (now Fieldex Exploration [FEX-M]), delineated the following resources: 1.4 million tons grading 1.24% copper and 8.77% zinc in the West and Q zones; 300,000 tons of 8.06% zinc in the East lens; and 534,000 tons of 2.5% copper in the Main zone.

Stoch notes that Rio did little assaying for gold or silver at Poirier, adding that historical data show that Poirier ore contained gold grades of roughly 0.05 oz. per ton.

“It has more than 2 million tons of material already outlined and it has never been drilled below 2,500 ft,” says Stoch. “In the West and Q zones, there was, until 1989, almost no drilling above the 850-ft. level, and whatever drilling was done there [at the 850-ft. level] hit big widths of massive sulphide with economic grades.”

Globex is in discussions with a major concerning a possible joint venture at Poirier.

In related news, Vancouver-based Ameridex Minerals has optioned Globex’s Mooseland gold project, in the Meguma gold district, 70 km north of Halifax, N.S.

Ameridex can earn a half-interest in the project by fulfilling three requirements: spending $4.5 million on work programs over five years; issuing 1 million Ameridex shares; and paying Globex $250,000.

In the late 1980s, some $8 million was spent exploring and developing the Mooseland property. In 1987, Acadia Mineral Ventures defined a resource of slightly more than 2 million tons grading 0.39 oz. gold per ton. In 1989, Hecla Mining Co. of Canada carried out more drilling. Although Hecla sunk a 410-ft. shaft and built a headframe, a proposed underground bulk-sampling program was cancelled and the site has since been dormant.

The property is underlain by

the Meguma Group greywacke, siltstone and argillite sequence.

Saddle-reef-style mineralization is developed on the crest and flanks of a shallow, easterly plunging anticline fold axis. Coarse free gold is associated with quartz veining and tends to form easterly plunging ore shoots. To date, 11 separate quartz vein zones have been identified on both limbs of the fold.

Ameridex plans to carry out drilling, partly to test extensions at depth of the East zone’s hole EML-41, which intersected 20.04 oz. gold per ton across 6.5 ft.

At the Lyndhurst property, near Rouyn-Noranda, Globex and partner Amblin Resources (AX-A) have completed a mise–la-masse geophysical survey. The work indicates that a mineralized body drilled at a depth of 3,000-4,000 ft. may rise as close as 500 ft. from surface in an area that has yet to be fully tested by drilling.

Amblin is seeking funding for more drilling at Lyndhurst. The company can earn a half-interest in the property, in part by spending $4 million on exploration by 2001.