Corona Operator of Phase II Program on Brett Property

A Phase II exploration program operated by Corona Corporation (TSE) is now underway on the Brett property west of Vernon, B.C. The company has earned a 51% interest in the project from Huntington Resources (VSE), which earlier this year had announced a 235 ft drill intersection grading 2.03 oz gold per ton from Hole 88-11.

Although the hole was drilled down dip through a shear zone and did not represent true thickness, it was enough to pluck Huntington Resources out of relative obscurity and to spark a deal-making and staking rush into B.C.’s Okanagan District.

According to Corona’s recent progress report, a reverse circulation drill is now working along a 820 ft portion of the Main shear zone. This area has demonstrated gold mineralization associated with a strong shear structure and a dissemination into certain favorable host rocks, Corona says.

About 10 holes have been targeted along this zone to provide larger and more representative sampling of the mineralization, with at least three holes planned for the immediate vicinity of Hole 88-11.

Upon completion of the reverse circulation portion of the program, Corona plans to begin diamond drilling the New Discovery zone located about 1300 ft east of the Main shear zone. This zone is hosted by a similar geological environment to the Main shear zone and the joint venture is examining the theory that both systems converge at depth. A third zone called the Gossan zone, drilled by Huntington several years ago, also exists on the property to the north. Although results were not particularly impressive, company President Stirling McIlveen said it has since been conceded the drilling wasn’t deep enough.

Corona reports that a road being constructed to the New Discovery zone area cut numerous, widespread gold geochemical anomalies indicated by earlier work. Soil sampling from road cuts returned some values of 1,000 ppb gold, with a high of 0.382 oz gold per ton in soil. Corona says this value corresponds exactly to a road exposure of oxidized and finely quartz-veined volcanic rock that assayed 0.073 oz gold across 9.8 feet. Located about 650 ft east-southeast of the New Discovery zone, the company believes this area may represent a fourth separate mineralized zone, although more surface work and drilling will be required to delineate the area.

The only geologically inferred reserve estimate made for the Brett property was calculated by Huntington (from one portion of the Main Shear zone) to be in the range of 170,000 tons. No specific grade assignment was made, however gold values were reported to range from 0.02 to 0.21 oz. Huntington had also estimated potential for higher grade material within this area to be in the range of 10,000 to 15,000 tons grading from 0.50 to 1.0 oz gold, noting that detailed drilling would be required to establish accurate tonnage and grade figures.