Bonanza pleased with Poirier drill results

Exploration drilling by Bonanza Metals (ASE) on the Poirier base metal property near Joutel, Que., continues to yield encouraging results, the company reports.

Bonanza’s joint venture partner in the project is Ressources Minieres Forbex (ME), which can earn a 50% interest by contributing $2.5 million in exploration funding.

The latest assay results from three recent surface holes on the property returned 2.8% zinc over 302 ft., including 6.04% zinc over 60 ft. in hole 15, and 3.39% zinc over 36 ft. in hole 16. Assays are pending for hole 23 which cut 92 ft. of massive sulphides.

All the above exploration holes are probing for possible extensions to previously defined sulphide lenses on the western part of the property.

According to Bonanza, the intersection in hole 23 hit a possible extension to the Q zone at a vertical depth of about 100 ft. below surface. “We think we have cut the Q zone close to surface in hole 23,” says Lauri Boivin, vice-president of exploration for Bonanza. “The intersection adds about 500 ft. of strike length to the Q zone updip.” The sulphide lens plunges to the east and has never been tested above the 800-ft. horizon, says Boivin.

At present, there are two drills working on the property and about 26 holes have been completed to date in the winter program. The first drill is being deployed to conduct wildcat exploration in areas away from the known zinc-copper zones, while another drill is focusing on the Q zone, a previously defined lens with about one million tons of zinc-bearing sulphides.

The company re-calculated preliminary reserves in the Q and West zones, estimated to contain about 1.47 million tons of minable base metal sulphides with varying grades of copper and zinc. The calculations are for the western part of the property, not including the main central zone of the old Poirier mine where there are a reported 514,750 tons of 2.45% copper, plus some unevaluated tonnages of zinc-bearing material.

The Q and West zone reserves are near well-developed areas of the old mine and have been drill- defined along 50-ft. sections. The Q zone is comprised mostly of zinc, while the West zone contains zinc with some copper. Both zones are in the west part of the property between depths of 800 ft. and 1,400 ft. below surface. Underground drifts and access exist close to the zones, and in most cases no stope development was performed in the past.

Boivin says the Q and West sulphide zones are at least 10 ft. wide, and more often, are substantially wider, up to 100 ft. in places.

Bonanza has commissioned a firm of engineering consultants to verify its in-house reserve calculations prior to a prefeasibility study planned for later this year.

“We’re hoping to incorporate all the results from the recent exploration work into a prefeasibility study which could lead to an underground program in the future,” says Boivin.

The former Poirier mine closed in 1975 due to a combination of high labor costs and low base metal prices. Official reserves at the time of closing were 763,800 tons of 2.2% copper and 716,500 tons of 10.4% zinc.