Drill turns at Regal Ridge

Vancouver — True North Gems (TGX-V) has launched a 1,250 metre drill program over its wholly owned Regal Ridge emerald property in the Yukon.

The program will determine the best locations for 300 metres of lateral underground development at the Southwest #1 and West #1 veins. Some 11 holes will be drilled at 10-to-15-metre spacings to track the Southwest #1 vein, while three holes are planned on the West #1 vein. Drilling is expected to last three weeks and then the $2.1 million underground program will be launched.

Situated in the southeastern Yukon, between Ross River and Watson Lake, the project hosts emeralds within schists and quartz-tourmaline veins.

Exploration in 1999 defined an 800-by-400-metre area of emerald material, and subsequent sampling and processing of 7 cubic metres of subcrop and talus yielded about 5 kg of colluvial-elluvial placer emeralds. However, only a tiny proportion of the crystals were of gem quality.

In June 2001, Expatriate Resources (EXR-V) inked a deal allowing then privately owned True North to acquire a half-stake in 93 of its mineral claims covering the initial discovery. Exploration that year demonstrated that emerald-bearing material had been developed in vertical cross-structures as well as within stacked, shallow dipping zones. Mechanical trenching uncovered a new zone of emerald mineralization some 200 metres east of the area 4 zone. Trenching also showed that emerald-bearing horizons occur with greater frequency in the upper, 100-metre section of the deposit.

Early in 2002, True North picked up an additional 22.8 sq. km of ground extending beyond the western boundary of the Goal Net property. The new project area, currently known as Regal Annex, hosts the same geological signature as Regal Ridge. By March, the company had closed a deal to buy a 100% interest in the Regal Ridge property by agreeing to pay $500,000 to Expatriate. Expatriate retains the right to explore for precious and base metals on the property.

The mineralization is marked by a Cretaceous granite body, which intrudes chlorite schist and, along with pegmatite and aplite dykes, has deposited emerald and tourmaline mineralization with associated carbonate, sericite and phlogopite alteration of the host rock. The mafic schists occur within the Fyre Lake metavolcanic unit that crops out over a large part of the Finlayson district. The granitic intrusions are enriched in beryllium and tungsten. The mineralized veins form a complex structural network.

Emeralds are a chromium-bearing beryllium silicate mineral, and are considered the rarest of precious gemstones. Globally, the major emerald districts are characterized by clusters of emerald occurrences. Zambia supplies about 20% of the world’s total annual emerald production, with a reported sales value of US$200 million per year. Other major producers include Colombia and Brazil. Most global production comes from small-to-medium-scale producers who use semi-mechanized mining methods to recover the stones.