Drilling expands Hope Bay deposit

Vancouver — Drilling by partners Miramar Mining (MAE-T) and Hope Bay Gold (HGC-T) at the Hope Bay project in Nunavut has expanded the Boston South, Naartok, P112 and Suluk zones.

At the newly discovered Suluk zone, hole 160 cut multiple high-grade intervals, including 4.3 metres of 16.3 grams gold per tonne, 3.4 metres of 40.9 grams and 8.8 metres of 18.5 grams. Hole 163 returned 25 metres averaging 7.4 grams gold and hole 164 returned 1.8 metres grading 18.1 grams.

At Naartok, hole 149 hit 4 metres grading 12 grams gold, hole 158 returned 4.3 metres grading 12.1 grams, and hole 162 yielded 2.6 metres of 22.8 grams.

Targeting the area around hole 112, which cut 33.8 metres grading 6.1 grams gold, hole 150 returned 21 metres grading 5.7 grams gold, whereas hole 151 cut 1.7 metres of 8.6 grams. Based on the latest results, mineralization in this area has a limited extent, though the partners believe the thick intervals warrant additional work.

At the Boston South deposit, five holes tested the southern extension. Hole 288 hit 3.3 metres grading 29 grams gold and hole 289 returned 4 metres grading 11.2 grams.

“These results continue to expand the mineralization in the Madrid and Boston areas,” says David Fennell, chairman of Hope Bay Gold.

The Suluk zone was found earlier this year through drilling in the Madrid area. It lies southeast of the Naartok zone, along the trend of the Deformation zone, which appears to control the mineralization at Naartok.

Miramar and Hope Bay believe the Naartok and Suluk zones could represent a third high-grade area. The other two deposits, Boston and Doris, have measured and indicated resources of 2.46 million tonnes grading 16.9 grams gold, equivalent 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.

Suluk is marked by three parallel mineralized horizons. These have been traced for 350 metres along strike and 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 containing greater than 5% pyrite.

The partners recently contributed $2.9 million to expand the original, $10-million exploration program. The search for new discoveries along the 80-km-long Hope Bay belt is continuing.