Robert Boyd, director of Canadian exploration for Vancouver- based Homestake Mineral Development, told The Northern Miner that “significant iron-formation- type gold discoveries” were identified on the George Lake property 100 km east of Echo Bay’s Lupin mine.
The 27,000-acre property is held by the George Lake joint venture owned 73.75% by Homestake. Oklahoma-based Kerr McGee (NYSE) holds the balance. Work programs on the property are operated by Trigg Woollett Olson, a consulting firm based in Edmonton.
Boyd said Homestake calculated an in-house reserve estimate for the deposit, which was not made public as it is only a geological mineral inventory.
“But it would be fair to say it exceeds two million tonnes of greater than 10 g (0.29 oz) gold per tonne,” he said. The calculation is for several deposits close to each other on the property.
“It’s not something we consider has reached the economic threshold yet,” Boyd stressed. “But we’re pleased that it has progressed well as an exploration prospect.”
About $12 million was spent on the fly-in/fly-out project over the past five years. Boyd said a substantial drill program on a similar scale to previous years is proposed for the 1990 season. The program will be aim ed at expanding geological reserves rather than infill drilling to prove up the deposit.
“We (Homestake) only stepped into this venture in 1987,” Boyd said. “We had a small program that year but our only significant drill programs were in 1988 and 1989.”
Boyd said the property still has “very good” exploration potential and some of next season’s drilling will be aimed at testing other areas of the property. The initial discoveries on the property were made by prospecting.
The exploration targets at George Lake are gold deposits hosted in iron formation of a type similar to the Lupin deposit and the Homestake deposit in Lead, S.D.
The Homestake mine has produced for over 100 years and the Lupin mine, which turned out 204,440 oz gold in 1988, is one of Canada’s largest gold producers. Despite its northern location, the Lupin mine is considered to be a low-cost producer.
Homestake also has a 51.25% interest in the Back River joint venture with partners Kerr McGee and an Edmonton-based private syndicate. Boyd said the Back River project consists of “earlier stage properties” in the Back River region about 90 km southeast of the Lupin mine. The exploration emphasis is also for gold deposits hosted in iron formation.
A number of other companies were active in the George Lake and Back River regions in the 1989 season; notably Echo Bay, Cominco Ltd. and Equity Silver. Several junior companies listed on the Alberta Stock Exchange also have properties in the region which is reported to be heavily staked.
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