Drilling expands Copper Rand mine

Underground drilling is expanding the Copper Rand gold-copper mine, just south of Chibougamau, Que.

MSV Resources (MSV-T) reports that hole 36R-284 cut the mine’s No. 1 and No. 3 horizons, plus another mineralized structure near the No. 1.

The intersection in the No. 3 zone, about 1,210 metres below surface, had a true width of 10.7 metres and graded 1.65% copper and 12.1 grams gold per tonne.

At a depth of 1,430 metres, the hole intersected the No. 1 horizon over a 17.7-metre true width. The mineralized zone graded 2.92% copper and 3.5 grams gold. A 1.2-metre structure near the No. 1 graded 2.42% copper and 4.5 grams gold.

The company believes the intersection in the No. 3 horizon can be mined from an extended drift along the mine’s 3900 level and from an extended underground ramp.

The company has completed more than 22,000 metres of drilling to assess zones of deep mineralization, and will be drilling another 7,600 metres on the No.

1 horizon. It will also extend an underground exploration drift, which will allow the No. 2 and No. 3 zones to be drill-tested at greater depths and the No. 1 zone to be drilled along strike to the east of the recent intersection.

The recent drilling has enabled MSV to estimate a geological resource of 3.6 million tonnes grading 1.48% copper and 4.4 grams gold at Copper Rand.

A short distance to the south, Loubel Exploration (LBX-M) has completed two drill holes on its Queylus copper-gold property. Loubel’s exploration target is a porphyry-type deposit similar to Inmet Mining’s (IMN-T) Troilus gold deposit north of Chibougamau.

Hole QU96-1 tested a magnetic anomaly and intersected 1.1% copper and 0.3 gram gold over 7.7 metres, as well as 1% copper and 0.5 gram gold over 11.2 metres. Over a 52.5-metre core length (including those two intervals), the average grade was 0.51% copper and 0.2 gram gold.

A second drill hole, QU96-2, tested the same magnetic anomaly 1 km northwest of QU96-1. The hole intersected four zones of copper-gold mineralization, including a 55.5-metre core length grading 0.45% copper and 0.06 gram gold, which included a 6.7-metre interval with 1.52% copper and 0.08 gram gold, and a 3.4-metre interval with 2.14% copper and 0.06 gram gold.

Loubel has also tested some samples for potential byproduct credits in silver and molybdenum but has yet to make the results public.