Program tests Agnew Lake

South African major Anglo American Platinum has approved a $1.2-million budget for the Agnew Lake platinum group metals project in the Sudbury region of Ontario.

Agnew Lake is owned by New Millennium Metals (PGM-V), which in turn has granted Pacific North West Capital (PFN-T) the right to a half-interest in exchange for $500,000 in exploration expenditures, $200,000 in cash and 50,000 shares. The companies have since granted Anglo the right to acquire a 60% interest in the property by spending $6 million on exploration, tabling a feasibility study and financing the project to commercial production.

Pacific North West, which operates the project, has launched program consisting of geological mapping, prospecting, stripping and sampling. The program is focused on the contact zone between the Agnew Lake layered intrusion and the surrounding country rock, where values of up to 8.4 grams combined platinum-palladium per tonne were obtained from magmatic breccias.

Geophysical surveying and diamond drilling will follow.

In related news, Pacific North West has finished a fourth phase of drilling at the River Valley platinum group metals project, also near Sudbury. Results for the final 45 holes are pending, and all results will be incorporated into a preliminary resource estimate. To date, 138 holes have been drilled, mostly in the Dana Lake zone.

Anglo Platinum can earn a 60% interest in the project by completing a feasibility study. Another 5% can be acquired in return for arranging development financing.