Decline well under way at Newhawk’s Sulphurets

The 1,200-ft underground decline is well under way at the Sulphurets property in northwestern B.C., reports operator Newhawk Gold Mines. Newhawk and Lacana Mining hold the property under option from Granduc Mines.

By mid-September the 15% decline had progressed to 215 ft and was advancing at a rate of 18 ft per day. The decline has passed through the northern mineralized end of the West zone and will follow the zone southward in the footwall.

Two crosscuts are planned at intervals along the decline with associated subdrifting. Underground sampling has started with results awaited. Newhawk says the underground program will be completed before year-end and undergound sampling will continue throughout the program.

Meanwhile over 20,000 ft of diamond drilling in 47 holes have been completed this year bringing the total drilling on the property to 60,000 ft. While the Sulphurets has been previously classed as an epithermal deposit, drilling results to a 1,000-ft depth with no discernable change in mineralogy indicate that this is not the case, the company says.

The latest results include Hole S-86-176 which was designed to test the West zone at depth. This hole encountered excellent grade in three intersections from 682.0 ft to 912.4 ft with the actual depth from surface at 950 ft.

One intersection from Hole S-86-176 returned 11.8 ft grading 0.287 oz gold and 22.42 oz silver per ton. A second intersection of 8.7 ft returned 0.224 oz gold and 12.57 oz silver. A third intersection of 13 ft returned 0.419 oz gold and 19.48 oz silver, which included a 6-ft intersection of 0.836 oz gold and 36.22 oz silver.

Hole S-86-175 intersected 0.542 oz gold and 30.84 oz silver over 39.5 ft at a depth from surface of 800 ft.

These results now establish the West zone open and strong at depth with average widths and grade of intersections at a 500-ft depth of 18.4 ft of 0.433 oz gold and 28.89 oz silver per ton.

Two holes drilled on the Shore zone both encountered good grade and have confirmed the continuity of this zone established by previous drilling. Hole S-86-171 returned a 9.3-ft intersection grading 0.132 oz gold and 0.14 oz silver per ton. Hole S-86-172 returned a 3.3-ft intersection grading 0.326 oz gold and 4.08 oz silver and a 6.6-ft intersection of 1.221 oz gold and 0.99 oz silver. This last intersection included a 3.3-ft section of 2.4 oz gold and 1.97 oz silver.