Deep drilling at Lamaque is key to Teck/Tundra

Drilling on the No 5 diorite plug on Teck Corp.’s Lamaque gold property near Val d’Or, Que., is yielding encouraging values. Tundra Gold Mines, which has the right to earn a 50% interest in a portion of Teck’s Lamaque holdings, which include the No 5 plug, is funding the program.

Hole 86-6, which is being drilled down the centre of the vertical diorite intrusive, has intersected nine sections of gold mineralization; the best of which assays 2.8 oz gold per ton across 2 ft, Tundra reports. “All that does is more or less confirm that their is gold in the plug,” Dr Matthew Blecha, vice-president of Teck Explorations, says. “We can’t hang any tonnages on it yet.”

The No 5 plug is located approximately 4,000 ft east of the Lamaque mill. Until its closure in the spring of 1985, the Lamaque mine operated for more than 50 years, producing more than 4.5 million oz of gold. Approximately 26.5 million tons of ore were milled averaging 0.17 oz gold per ton.

Since shutting down, however, Teck Explorations, the exploration arm of Teck Corp., has continued an aggressive exploration program designed to delineate additional reserves on the large property. The 2,100-ton-per-day mill is being kept on a care-and-maintenance basis.

Tundra, which can earn a 50% interest by spending $9 million on exploration over the next three years, plans to fund 40,000 ft of diamond drilling by the end of February, 1987, President Albert. W. Applegath tells The Northern Miner. A majority of that drilling will test the No 5 plug at depth. In order to get the work completed on time, Tundra says a second rig will be added.

“The No 5 plug has seen a fair amount of drilling in the past,” Dr Blecha notes. “However most of that was shallow, between 300-400 ft.” The purpose of the current program is to test the plug at depths below 1,800 ft. The hole being drilled will eventually be completed below 2,000 ft, Dale Corman, a Tundra spokesman adds.

If successful in intersecting gold at such depths, underground work could be performed from the Lamaque mine workings on the 1,800-ft level. Underground drilling from stations on the 1,800-ft level is scheduled to start on Nov 20, Dr Blecha says. Pending positive results, the partners will consider drifting and crosscutting on the zone.

Results from the hole in progress are listed below. Hole Intersection Width Grade

(ft) (ft) oz. gold/t T86-6 99.5-105.5 6.0 0.156

113.5-116.0 2.5 0.166

212.0-213.0 1.0 0.245

279.5-282.0 2.5 0.118

305.0-317.5 12.5 0.229 incld 312.5-315.0 2.5 0.533

431.4-432.7 1.3 0.291

434.5-437.5 3.0 0.107

446.0-448.0 2.0 2.8

454.6-456.0 1.4 0.15