DIAMOND PAGE — Juniors aim drills at East Bull Lake

Preliminary drilling by Mustang Gold (MUST-C) has intersected two platinum-palladium-bearing layers in the East Bull Lake intrusion, 80 km west of Sudbury, Ont.

Seven of eight holes drilled east of Moon Lake traced two near-surface layers for 300 metres along strike. One underlies the other, and both coincide with an induced-polarization anomaly measuring 1.5 km in length. Intermittent surface showings contain up to 5.93 grams of combined platinum-palladium-gold per tonne.

The upper layer varies between 1.5 and 13.5 metres in true thickness; within the layer are mineralized intervals of up to 7.5 metres assaying as high as 5.65 grams combined platinum-palladium-rhodium-gold.

The other layer contains similar grades and widths of mineralization but is thicker at 24.5-39 metres.

Also, one hole intersected 42 metres that had characteristics of both layers and contained two 1.5-metre intervals grading 1.08 and 1.35 grams combined metals.

On average, the mineralized intervals contain three times as much palladium as platinum, and up to 0.07 gram rhodium and 0.37 gram gold. Copper and nickel were noted in each, with a maximum of 0.41% reported for the former and 0.1% for the latter.

Mineralization is of the “contact-type” described in several reports published by the Ontario Geological Survey. This variety occurs in a basal, anorthositic unit of the intrusion and consists of disseminated to clotty magmatic pyrrhotite, chalcopyrite, pyrite and minor pentlandite enriched in, or proximal to, palladium-bismuth-tellurium compounds and sperrylite.

Geologically, East Bull Lake is an gabbroic-anothositic, inward-dipping lopolith that measures 22 km long, up to 5 km wide and 1 km thick. Mustang’s claims cover more than 90% of that.

In other news, Freewest Resources (FWR-M) and Sparton Resources (SPTN-C) are drilling their Folson Lake showing, west of Moon Lake. There, 37 grab samples from three blast trenches returned up to 6.6 grams palladium, 2.8 grams platinum, 8.3 grams silver, 0.3 gram gold, 1.79% copper and 0.66% nickel.

Like Mustang, the partners are targeting the basal unit. Drilling will test two weak electromagnetic conductors, one of which coincides with the surface showing and is 450 metres long, while the other is 125 metres to the south and 650 metres longth.

Sparton can earn a half-interest in the Folson Lake property, which covers 320 ha of the intrusion. To do so, it must spend $50,000 on exploration, with subsequent funding to be shared equally.