Antares focuses on Creek zone at Toodoggone

Results from the first phase of this year’s drill program at the Toodoggone gold property in north-central British Columbia are being greeted with enthusiasm by Antares Mining & Exploration (ANZ-T).

The drilling, which focused on the Creek zone, yielded values that suggest the holes struck a wide halo of mineralized carbonate stockwork. Examination of the core also suggests a fractured gold-silver-zinc-lead-copper carbonate system of veins injected into shallow-dipping layers of massive andesite flow breccia.

The first six holes of the recent campaign were drilled in the same east-west fence as the discovery hole, whereas hole 15 was drilled perpendicular to the fence. Holes 9-15 all intersected widespread geochemically anomalous gold values beyond the reported intersections, Antares reports.

The first hole of the 1998 program, hole 9, was drilled 18 metres east of the discovery hole. It returned 0.82 gram gold per tonne across 14.5 metres (from 49 metres downhole) and 2.5 grams across 16.7 metres (from 81.7 metres).

Other highlights include:

n hole 10, which cut 1.4 grams across 9.51 metres (from 31.85 metres); n hole 12, which intersected 3.05 grams across 21.5 metres (from 93.5 metres); and

n hole 15, which yielded 1.23 grams across 7.56 metres (from 37.34 metres).

The discovery hole, drilled in 1997, cut 103.3 grams gold and 92.2 grams silver, plus 1.34% copper, 0.46% lead and 11% zinc, over a true width of 2.5 metres (from 91 metres) consisting of near-massive sulphide within carbonate stockwork.

In late 1997, Antares discovered several narrow zones of polymetallic mineralization in the Creek zone (T.N.M., Dec. 15/97). In the best hole, metallic-sieve analysis revealed 103.3 grams gold over 4 metres. Standard fire-assay methods on the same interval returned 61.1 grams gold, 92.4 grams silver, 1.34% copper, 0.46% lead and 11.7% zinc.

The Creek zone is hosted by altered andesite flow breccias of Jurassic age that contain pyrite, sphalerite, chalcopyrite and galena.

Antares can earn a 55% interest in the 235-sq.-km Toodoggone property from AGC Americas Gold (AGA-V) by spending $5 million on exploration. To date, the company has spent $3.6 million.