Falconbridge setsd $32m. for Lindsley project

Spurred by encouraging surface exploration results at its Lindsley base/precious metals prospect in the Sudbury area of Ontario, Falconbridge Ltd. (TSE) plans a $32- million shaft sinking and underground program at the site.

The decision follows discovery of high grade mineralization at the Lindsley project in July of last year, when one hole, B51B, intersected 255.5 ft grading 2.3% nickel, 4.4% copper, 0.12% cobalt, 0.11 oz silver per ton, 0.07 oz gold, 0.08 oz platinum and 0.27 oz palladium per ton.

Since then, Brian Ferguson, Falconbridge vice-president mining tells The Northern Miner, a major program using six drills has outlined four potentially mineable ore zones, to justify the shaft and underground program.

The Lindsley project is located about 20 km west of the company’s Sudbury-area smelter.

Ferguson says preparation work for the new shaft will start immediately, with actual shaft sinking expected to start early next year. The 16-ft diameter shaft will be sunk to a depth of 4,500 ft.

A drifting and drilling program on the 4,300-ft level will consist of some 3,500 ft of drifting, and 115,000 ft of diamond drilling.

The total shaft sinking and underground program will take about three years to complete.

In addition to the nickel grades at the Lindsley project, which Ferguson says are “well in advance” of nickel grades at existing Falconbridge mines in the Sudbury area, significant gold grades have been encountered, particularly in the high grade zone where hole B51B was drilled.

A 7.9-ft section in that hole, he said, ran a grade of 0.24 oz gold.

Should the Lindsley become a mine, it would be the 11th of mines in production, or that have been in production, at Falconbridge’s Sudbury operations.