EXPLORATION 1998 — Tex-Sol and Pentland nix merger — Pentland discovers new gold zone

A proposed merger between United Tex-Sol Mines (UTX-A) and Pentland Firth Ventures (PFO-T) has run off the rails.

Pentland had offered to issue one of its shares for every two shares of United Tex-Sol, pending due diligence and regulatory and shareholder approvals. The companies now say they have agreed to terminate discussions.

United Tex-Sol’s main assets are its Clavos property in Ontario’s Timmins camp, and the North Fortitude property in north-central Nevada.

Inferred resources at Clavos are reported at 6.13 million tonnes grading 5.2 grams gold, or just over 1 million contained ounces. This total does not take into account results from last year’s exploration program, which include: 9.6 ft. of 0.06 oz. gold; 9.6 ft. of 0.1 oz.; 24.1 ft. of 0.13 oz.

and 25.7 ft. of 0.46 oz. (which includes 9.6 ft. of 1.06 oz.). A tightly spaced infill drilling program is currently under way to determine grade continuity and provide information for a potential mining operation.

Tex-Sol’s North Fortitude property, situated in the Battle Mountain trend, hosts 250,000 contained ounces at an average grade of 0.12 oz. gold per ton.

This project is situated immediately north of Battle Mountain’s Fortitude open-pit, which has produced more than 2 million oz. gold and 9 million oz.

silver from 10.5 million tons of ore.

Pentland holds a large land package in the Timmins camp, as well as ground near Atikokan, Ont., where resources at the company’s Hammond Reef project stand at 85.5 million tonnes grading 0.93 gram gold per tonne.

The company’s Marlhill project, near Timmins, hosts a resource of 1.3 million tonnes of 4.78 grams gold, while the Schumacher III property, also near Timmins, contains 670,000 tonnes of 2.89 grams gold. Pentland’s Ludgate property, part of its 60%-held Garrison Creek joint-venture near Matheson, Ont., hosts 462,000 tonnes of 5.91 grams gold.

In late February, Pentland reported the discovery of a new gold zone 200 metres south of the existing deposit at Ludgate. The first drill hole cutting the new Noel zone returned 2.31 grams gold over a core length of 91.1 metres (from 44.9 to 136 metres).

Three more holes were drilled

to test the zone, one of which was barren. The two that hit returned 2.33 grams gold over 1.1 metre and 1.47 grams gold over 7.3 metres.

Pentland notes that these results compare favorably with a hole collared 230 metres to the north that intersected 3.73 grams gold over a 67.5-metre core length.

Holes drilled to test other zones at Ludgate cut 1.34 grams gold over 5.7 metres, 2.82 grams gold over 21 metres and 1.87 grams gold over 5.2 metres.

The company sees potential for bulk mining at Ludgate, and plans to revisit its interpretation of the mineralized trends in order to confirm this potential.