Aurizon’s Douay program under way in Quebec

Work has started at the Douay West gold project in northwestern Quebec, where Aurizon Mines (ARZ-T) is earning a half interest from Vior Mining Exploration (VIO-M).

A 6-km access road from Highway 109 is mostly complete, and a contract has been let for a power line from the Hydro-Quebec grid. Aurizon has bought a headframe and hoist for the project and expects to have the surface works in place for shaft construction by April.

The shaft will be sunk to 150 metres, and two exploration drifts will be driven into the deposit, which has a published resource of 642,905 tonnes grading 9.9 grams gold per tonne. Bulk samples from the drifts will be trucked to Aurizon’s Sleeping Giant mine, 50 km to the south, for test milling, and a feasibility study is scheduled to be ready by the end of 1997.

Also under way is a 2,000-metre drill program, which includes a pilot hole for the shaft and a series of holes to test strike and dip extensions of the mineralized structure.

Aurizon can earn its interest by spending a total of $5 million over 21 months, and can also earn a 50% interest in the 190-claim Douay property adjoining Douay West. Vior retains a 100% interest in the Douay East claim group, where it plans to start a $250,000 drilling program in January.

Aurizon earned $941,000 on revenue of $4.6 million in the third quarter, up from $484,000 on $3 million in revenues during the comparable period in 1995.

For the nine months ended Sept. 30, the company generated $15.1 million in revenue, earning $2.8 million (or 8 cents per share); in the comparable period last year, Aurizon earned $2.7 million (8 cents per share) on revenue of $10.1 million.

The company will be funding the $6.4-million Douay West program from its working capital of $9.3 million and from cash flow.

At Vior’s Ligneris gold property, 70 km southwest of Douay, Barrick Gold (ABX-T) has taken time from its busy schedule to compile data and begin a rock-geochemistry survey. Drilling should start in the coming spring.