Long porphyry hit expands Halilaga potential for Teck, Fronteer

Vancouver – A year after selling their two more advanced Turkish projects to Alamos Gold (AGI-T), partners Fronteer Gold (FRG-T) and Teck Resources (TCK.B-T, TCK-N) have pulled a lengthy gold-copper intercept at Halilaga, one of two early-stage projects in Turkey the partners kept.

Drilled within the Central zone, hole 54 hit mineralized porphyry from surface and returned 646.5 metres averaging 0.26 gram gold per tonne and 0.33% copper. The best grades came early: the first 106.8 metres carried 0.65 gram gold and 0.89% copper, including 33 metres of 0.63 gram gold and 1.5% copper.

The hole cut through porphyry for its entire length, starting in main zone porphyry and passing through the known supergene layer before hitting a prominent east-west, near vertical fault. On the other side of the fault the drill found just what the partners hoped it would: a down-dropped block of porphyry mineralization that is hidden under younger volcanic cover on the northern portion of the property.

“Halilaga’s Central zone and the surrounding prospective district have seen relatively minimal exploration,” said Fronteer’s president and CEO Mark O’Dea in a statement. “This drill hole demonstrates the continuity of the deposit to the north, well beyond what was previously thought to be the edge of the system.”

Teck and Fronteer already had three drill rigs at Halilaga but the intercept from hole 54 prompted them to add a fourth rig. They have also modified their drilling plan in order to follow up on the long hit, which sits north of the zone.

The Central zone at Halilaga is the only area on the property that has been drill tested. As defined by roughly a dozen holes, the zone currently strikes for 1,200 metres and stretches across 400 metres width. Holes have generally returned mineralized intercepts 200 metres long or better.

Teck and Fronteer are spending $2.7 million at Halilaga this year and plan to complete 10,000 metres of core drilling, of which just over a third is complete. Most of the drilling will test the Central zone, for which the partners plan to calculate an initial resource estimate before the end of the year. There will also be some more exploratory work – Teck and Fronteer have reserved 1,500 metres of drilling for other porphyry targets on the property.

Teck owns 60% of Halilaga, with Fronteer holding the other 40%. The partners are both contributing as per ownership to project spending.

The Halilaga property is in northwest Turkey, in an area known as the Biga District. The project is accessible by road and sits close to infrastructure. The Biga District is also home to the two projects that Fronteer and Teck sold to Alamos, called Agi Dagi and Kirazli. A few months after purchasing the projects Alamos completed a positive preliminary economic assessment for their joint development into open pit heap leach mines.

Teck and Fronteer have one other Turkish target in the wings. TV Tower is a high sulphidation gold target located 20 km northwest of Halilaga. The partners will soon kick off a 2,000-metre drill program at the site, accompanied by rock and soil geochemistry and geophysical surveys.

Fronteer’s investors were pleased with the long hit at Halilaga, pushing the company’s share price up 57¢ or 7.7% to reach a new 52-week high of $8.01. In December Fronteer shares were trading at just $3.77. The company has 121 million shares outstanding.