Partners
The partners recently contributed $2.9 million for an expanded exploration program at Hope Bay, allowing drilling to continue through June. The pair initially budgeted $10 million for the first phase of the 2001 program, which saw 21,500 metres of core drilling completed. Another 8,000 metres are planned for the supplemental program.
“The phase-one program was designed to test for possible resource additions at Madrid and Boston South, and has achieved the results we need to justify increasing our budget,” says David Fennell, chairman of Hope Bay Gold.
The additional drilling will be focused on the Madrid and Boston South areas. The partners are encouraged by the discovery of the Naartok zone, within the Madrid area, and by potential new zones under Patch Lake.
“Continued encouraging results from these phase-two activities could result in further exploration commitments during the summer of 2001,” states Miramar President Anthony Walsh.
The Suluk zone was found by drilling in the Madrid area. It lies southeast of the Naartok zone, along the trend of the Deformation zone that appears to control the mineralization at Naartok. In addition to hole 148 (mentioned above), drilling returned 3.5 metres grading 36.2 grams and 6.7 metres of 11.8 grams.
Miramar and Hope Bay Gold are optimistic that the Naartok and Suluk zones could represent a third high-grade area at the project. The other two deposits, Boston and Doris, have measured and indicated resources of 2.46 million tonnes grading 16.9 grams gold, equal to 1.3 million oz. Within Doris, a further 1.1 million tonnes grading 16.8 grams, or 579,000 oz., are categorized as inferred.
At Suluk, three parallel mineralized horizons have been traced for 350 metres along strike. They show similar traits to Naartok, including silicification, quartz stockwork veining and pyrite within a broader sericite-dolomite alteration halo. Gold mineralization is associated with brecciated, silicified and sulphidized mafic-to-ultramafic volcanic rocks. Higher gold values are associated with altered rocks with greater than 5% pyrite.
The joint venture previously released another batch of results from drilling completed in the Doris Connector area of the Doris deposit and at Boston South. Seven holes tested the C2 vein in the Doris Connector area, confirming the presence of a shallow, sub-horizontal, high-grade shoot. The three best holes returned intercepts of 8.4 metres (true width) grading 15.4 grams gold per tonne, 9.4 metres grading 19 grams, and 4.2 metres grading 10.6 grams.
At Boston South, 30 holes have now been completed, extending the high-grade mineralization over 225 metres south of the Boston decline. Mineralization occurs within sub-parallel and en echelon lenses hosted in strongly carbonate and sericite altered basalt. The zone remains open along strike and at depth. Highlighting the better results are 7.1 grams over 8.5 metres (true width), 10.2 grams across 3.2 metres, 14.6 grams across 3.5 metres, 13.2 grams over 8.9 metres, and 16.5 gram over 3.5 metres.
The search for new discoveries continued along the 80-km-long Hope Bay belt. Reverse-circulation drilling targeted the Miksa, Domani, Chicago, Kamik and Amarok prospects. Elevated values were detected, but no potentially economic intercepts were encountered, with the exception of Domani, which yielded 0.76 metre of 4.52 grams in hole 7 and 0.76 metre of 39.9 grams in hole 10.
Follow-up core drilling at Miksa did not encounter any significant gold values; however, the alteration and anomalous values are said to warrant further work.
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