Platinova president downplays overblown’ Greenland results

Following interviews with a Danish government official, two top daily newspapers in Copenhagen said last week that gold worth billions had been reported on a remote property being explored by Platinova Resources (TSE) and Corona Corp. (TSE).

The report, picked up by the Reuters news agency and broadcast on a Toronto television station, has been a source of embarrassment to the joint venture partners who are not certain if the project will be mined.

The reports estimated the Greenland reserve potential to be in the 15-million-oz range.

“We have found a very large resource of gold and platinum group metals but the economics of getting it out are not known at this point,” Gannicott told The Northern Miner.

While the Toronto companies haven’t done enough drilling to estimate reserves, Platinova was forced to issue a press release after newspaper reports on the discovery drove its share price up 27 cents to $2 a share.

Shares of Corona, which is earning a 51% stake in the Greenland project from Platinova, also rose 63 cents to $10.

According to Gannicott, much of that activity was driven by European interest in the Greenland project where a major drill program is scheduled to begin next April. Platinova is carried for a 49% interest through that program.

As reported (N.M., Nov 13/89), wide-spaced drilling on a 6.2 x 4.9-mi le layered intrusive has already demonstrated the continuity of a shallow, dipping gold horizon by consistently intersecting it at depths of up to 1,600 ft.

Similar geological structures are being mined for platinum and palladium in the U.S. and South Africa but none of them are accompanied by a gold-rich layer.

Gannicott attributed the newspaper articles to wishful thinking on the part of the Danish government which is entitled to a 50% share of any revenues derived from resources in Greenland.

“When they hear reports of a gold discovery, people (in Europe) tend to go bug-eyed,” he said.

A spokesman for Corona said the company wasn’t taking any action as a result of the Danish newspaper reports. “Rumors of that nature are so incredulous that they don’t deserve a response,” he said.

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