A borehole designed to test the Wanapitei anomaly northeast of Sudbury, Ont., has reached its target depth of 1,500 metres without hitting any economic mineralization, says Paul Severin, manager of exploration for Falconbridge’s Sudbury office.
But drilling will continue to a depth of as much as 2,000 metres before Falconbridge stops the wildcat hole, Severin told The Northern Miner. Although the company’s ideal is to hit Sudbury-type base metal mineralization, just finding the contact between overlying sedimentary rocks and potentially mineral-rich basement rocks would be cause for celebration. Called the Mirage project, Falconbridge’s all-or-nothing exploration program is based on the theory that the Wanapitei magnetic anomaly, which looks remarkably similar to the nearby Sudbury anomaly, could host another base metal bounty. The company has collared its hole in Sheppard Twp., just north of the magnetic peak that occurs on ground held by Flag Resources (ASE). If Falconbridge does hit the sedimentary-basement contact, it will search for conductors in the surrounding area using down-the-hole electromagnetics. Drilling will resume in the new year.
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