St Andrew Goldfields, close to Stock property decision

Buoyed by the discovery of a high grade gold bearing deposit north of its promising Stock Twp. property near Timmins, Ont., St Andrew Goldfields Ltd. says it is close to a production decision on the property.

“We could be in a position to make a production decision at our annual meeting on June 30,” President Warren Armstrong told the Northern Miner.

“But that decision rests largely on the completion and evaluation of the underground programs initiated in early l986”.

The l986 drilling program led to the discovery of a gold bearing sulphide deposit to the north of any previously explored area. Known as the N2 Zone, it is located north of a minor break component of the Porcupine-Destor Fault, and is hosted by a band of coarse grey carbonate rock. According to the company, this new discovery is on the existing reserve base of the four ore zones delineated in previous underground programs started in mid-l983.

During l986, 37,720 ft of diamond drill core was recovered from l04 underground holes exclusively directed in the exploration of the new high grade zone

The company says preliminary estimates from this drilling in the N2 Zone indicate 762,200 tons of proven and probable ore grading 0.23 oz gold per ton with the following parameters.

Located some 300 ft north of all previous ore zone discoveries, the N2 now extends laterally 850 ft and vertically from 200 to 1,000 ft below surf ace and with an average horizontal zone width of 28 ft.

Including the four other zones previously reported for the Stock Twp. mine, total reserves are now estimated at 1.5 million tons at an average grade of 0.183 oz. The company says an upward revision of these reserves and grade may be possible at the completion of the current phase of work.

Following an agreement in Feb, l986, with Labrador Mining and Exploration (Hollinger) and Esso Minerals Canada (Imperial Oil), St Andrew began exploration on its Taylor, Twp., property near Timmins.

Under the terms of the agreement, St Andrew bought Hollinger’s remaining 50% interest in 101 mining claims (approximately 4,000 acres) along the Porcupine-Destor Fault.

Included in the agreement were two well drilled deposits known as the “Shoot” and “Porphyry” Zones, the former, with estimated reserves of 1.09 million tons with an uncut and undiluted average grading 0.126 oz gold per ton. Included in that is 400,000 tons grading 0.15 oz. The latter has been tested by some 60,000 ft of surface drilling in more than 100 holes.

A 565 ft shaft was completed by Dec l986, and a 5,000 ft underground diamond drilling program was started.

During March, l987, the company says a limited surface diamond drilling was carried out on the Shoot Zone by Esso Minerals with funding provided by St Andrew Goldfields. Four holes totalling 3,754 ft were drilled, two of which successfully intersected the zone.

Significant gold-bearing intersections include hole SAT-10 which intersected a 45.2 ft cut grading 0.092 oz gold per ton. That included a 7.9 ft section averaging 0.1 oz.

During l987, the company expects to spend $4.15 million on exploration. Of that amount, $l.15 million is slated for the continuing underground program at Stock Twp. An additional $2.12 million will be spent on exploration of the Porphyry Zone at Taylor Twp.

St Andrew has a good cash position of about $9.8 million on Dec 31, l987, compared with $10.2 million during the same period last year.

The company’s shares were trading recently on the Toronto Stock Exchange at $6.25, just below its 52-week high of $8.50 but well above its $4.35 low point.