Drilling extends strike length RFC expands Pend Oreille

Halfway through a 20,000-ft. underground drilling program on the Pend Orielle project in Washington State, RFC Resource Finance (TSE) has extended the strike length of the Yellowhead zone by 600 ft.

Last year, RFC discovered that lead-zinc mineralization at the north end of the 2,000-ft. deep Yellowhead horizon was thicker and higher grade than previously encountered. This year’s program is designed to chase northeastern extensions of the high-grade core.

Probing the zone at 200 ft. stepouts, RFC hit a 15.6-ft. section grading 18.1% zinc and 3.6% lead in hole 4427. Other significant intersections include 23.6 ft. grading 12.9% zinc and 0.5% lead and 22.2 ft. grading 11.2% zinc and 0.2% lead.

“We are amazed by the regularity of the deposit,” said Peter Bojtos, president of RFC and vice-president of corporate development for Kerr Addison Mines (TSE). “These results will certainly increase the reserves.”

Kerr Addison, with a 44% stake in RFC, has provided a $1-million loan to finance the current exploration phase.

Another five holes (eight have been drilled so far) tested the width of the deposit for up to 800 ft. All of these holes, with the exception of one at the perimeter, intersected mineralization with an average zinc grade greater than the 5% cutoff. The Yellowhead zone averages about 15 ft. in thickness.

To date, RFC has outlined preliminary reserves of 6.2 million tons grading 8.8% zinc and 1.9% lead within Yellowhead. The 600-ft. extension should boost reserves by at least 700,000 tons, according to rough calculations by The Northern Miner.

Bojtos said a revised reserve figure would be released sometime this summer, when all the results from the current program have been examined. At this point, drifting directly into the ore zone may be justified.

Meanwhile, RFC will continue drilling in a fan-like pattern from a revolving drill station 1,000 ft. below surface. But because the drill is at the limit of its reach to the north, only one more hole will test northern strike extensions. Any further exploration to the north would require an extension of the drift.

The Yellowhead formation lies about 1,000 ft. below the Josephine formation, which was mined in the 1960s and ’70s.