Casa Berardi drilling intersects sulphide breccia

Drilling by Aurizon Mines (ARZ-T) at the Casa Berardi property in northwestern Quebec has intersected a new zone of gold mineralization in semi-massive sulphide material east of the property’s West Mine, a former producer.

The zone was intersected by a hole drilled from surface and by a wedge hole drilled off the former. The main hole intersected 56 metres of sulphide breccia and quartz-vein material, which averaged 3.7 grams gold per tonne. The true width of the intersection was 33 metres.

The wedged hole drilled off the first hole intersected the mineralized zone about 12 metres above the first hole. It cut 8.3 metres of similar rock that graded an average 9.5 grams per tonne, and its true width was 4.9 metres.

Aurizon estimated the depth of the mineralized zone at about 450 metres below surface.

The new discovery comes in tandem with a series of holes that have confirmed extensions to previously known mineralization, including the Zone 120 discovery announced last month. Wedge holes off one of the Zone 120 discovery holes intersected the mineralized zone 5 metres and 22 metres above the discovery hole. The first cut 11 metres grading 6.9 grams gold per tonne; the second, 4 metres grading 12.7 grams. The intersections’ true widths were estimated at 9.7 and 3.5 metres.

Two holes tested the Casa Berardi fault at depths around 1,100 metres, with two others still in progress. One of the completed holes intersected a 5.3-metre interval of quartz vein material that did not carry significant gold mineralization, but the other encountered a quartz stockwork that graded 3.3 grams per tonne over 9.4 metres.

A drill hole to test the eastern extension of mineralization in Zone 113 did not encounter any significant gold values.

Five drills continue to test zones in the area between the West Mine and the Principal Mine. Current reserves at the West Mine are 6.9 million tonnes with an average gold grade of 6.7 grams per tonne, enough for a 7.5-year mine life.