Kodiak plans winter program

Winter’s imminent arrival in Canada’s Northwest Territories has Kodiak Exploration (KXL-V, KXLAF-O) gearing up to test a newly discovered copper-nickel-platinum group elements (PGE) prospect on the north shore of Great Slave Lake, about 80 km east of Yellowknife.

During a summer program, the company discovered seven showings of disseminated and semi-massive sulphides over a strike length of 9 km at its wholly owned Caribou Lake project.

The follow-up winter program will begin with a detailed 2,000 line-km magnetic and electromagnetic (EM) survey over the entire property, which was recently expanded by staking to 125 sq. km. The survey will also expand known EM anomalies, including some believed to be associated with the nickel-copper sulphide showings.

Kodiak then plans to drill-test the showings, which consist of magmatic, net-textured copper-nickel-cobalt-bearing sulphides that are closely associated with a pegmatitic gabbro layer underlying a thick magnetite band.

Initial sampling of the massive and net-textured magmatic sulphides returned values of up to 1.41% copper, 0.62% nickel, and anomalous levels of platinum, palladium, gold and cobalt. Higher copper grades were subsequently reported from grab samples.

The disseminated and semi-massive sulphides are reported to reach a thickness of 90 metres near a feeder dyke at the south end of the gabbro. A pit blasted in the area exposed massive sulphides, but did not reach the base of the sulphide layer, which remains open. Grab samples here returned values of up to 0.97% copper and 0.62% nickel.

The Caribou Lake gabbro is the western portion of the Blachford Lake intrusive complex, which has been interpreted as a major crustal rift. Kodiak staked the project based on published reports that compared the intrusion with others known to host major PGE deposits.

The geophysical programs at Caribou Lake will be followed by drilling to better test the potential of the property. The company says the project has attracted the attention of several senior mining companies since the discovery was announced in mid-September of this year.

Kodiak is also exploring its Knucklethumb project, 210 km northeast of Thunder Bay, Ont. The company previously reported several discoveries from this early-stage prospect, including two zones of copper-nickel mineralization in the Aidan area, and gold-silver mineralization at the Vent prospect.