Doris North yields higher grades

Vancouver — Having drilled 140 holes into the Doris North zone over the past three months, equal partners Miramar Mining (MAE-T) and Hope Bay Gold (HGC-T) are now working towards a full feasibility study on the promising Hope Bay project in Nunavut.

“Results from the in fill drill program have confirmed the presence of a significant, near surface high-grade mineralization at Doris North,” says Miramar’s President, Tony Walsh. “While there have been some changes from our original interpretation as a result of the new, very close spaced drill holes, we remain confident that the Doris North project will deliver a robust, low capital cost, high return gold project that should generate significant cash flow as outlined in our Preliminary Assessment.”

The infill drill program was completed at a 10-by-12.5 metre spacing in order to allow detailed mine planning. The last batch of assay results continued to show the high-grade nature of the mineralization. Highlights include:

• Hole 517 — 3.1 metre grading 500.1 gram gold per tonne from 64.5 metres downhole,
• Hole 525 — 6.6 metres grading 92.1 grams gold from 53.3 metres downhole,
• Hole 516 — 10 metres grading 38.3 grams gold from 45.7 metres downhole,
• Hole 498 — 5.8 metres grading 115.9 grams gold from 67.3 metres downhole,
• Hole 484 — 4 metres grading 101.9 grams gold from 62.2 metres downhole,
• Hole 415 — 6.4 metres grading 122.1 grams gold from 61.7 metres downhole,
• Hole 459 — 3.1 metres grading 143.7 grams gold from 79.6 metres downhole,
• Hole 429 — 2.1 metres grading 216.1 grams gold from 90.8 metres downhole, and
• Hole 445 — 8.6 metres grading 51.4 metres from 17 metres downhole.

Mineralization at Doris North is hosted in an anticlinal fold, with narrow but high-grade values occurring in the western limb and wider but lower grades occurring in the eastern limb. The results indicate that the mineralization at Doris North is narrower but higher grade than previously interpreted from wider spaced drilling. The result could be lower contained ozs. As of January, the Hope Bay project has measured and indicated resources of 3.36 million tonnes grading 15.4 grams gold.

A new resource calculation is expected by August.

Miramar and Hope Bay each hold a 50% stake in the project. Earlier this week, Hope Bay shareholders voted to approve the amalgamation of the two companies.