Falconbridge drops East Bull (September 16, 2002)

Shares of Mustang Minerals (YMU-V) fell sharply on Sept. 11, after the company announced that its partner Falconbridge (FL-T) was dropping the East Bull Lake PGE property near Sudbury, Ont.

The major had been earning a half-interest in the 90% of the East Bull Lake property controlled by Mustang, which covered a 22-km-long gabbro-anorthosite intrusion. To earn its stake, Falconbridge was responsible for funding $5 million in exploration before Nov. 14, 2005. Falconbridge also purchased $1 million worth of Mustang’s treasury shares as part of the deal. Mustang now regains full ownership of the property.

The former partners recently sank 6 holes (totalling 860 metres) over a series of previously cut trenches on the Kid, Parisien and Central showings, each of which extends for more than 1 km and remains open.

The Central zone returned the best trenching results with 15.7 metres averaging 1.92 grams combined platinum, palladium and gold

For the most part drilling failed to impress. Combined platinum, palladium, and gold values typically range between 0.53 and about 1 gram per tonne, with a peak value of 1.89 grams over a 5-metre width.

Mustang says it will continue to explore the property on its own, as more than 80% of the margin of the intrusion remains undrilled. The company is currently looking at funding options to resume a surface and drill exploration program.