Melinga, Comaplex plan summer work

The first phase of exploration on a 1,000-square-mile property in Griffin Lake-Cullaton Lake area of the Northwest Territories, 360 miles northeast of Stoney Rapids, Sask., is scheduled to get under way in mid-1992.

Under an agreement with Comaplex Minerals, a unit of Comaplex Resources International (TSE), Melinga Resources (VSE) has the right to earn a 55% interest in the property by spending a total of $1.7 million before Dec. 31, 1993.

Of that sum, $1.3 million is earmarked for the western claim group, which covers one of two distinct Proterozoic sedimentary basins. The remaining $400,000 will be spent on the East Basin.

Both sedimentary sequences lie unconformably on older basement rocks and have been compared to the cycle that hosts the Witswatersrand gold deposits in South Africa. Numerous occurrences, grading up to one ounce gold per ton, have been found within the quartzite, shale and dolomite units, including four new discoveries in the vicinity of Griffin Lake.

At an estimated cost of $750,000, Melinga plans to complete geophysical studies and a minimum of 3,000 ft. of drilling to trace the strike extent of the known gold zones. Depending on the results of the summer program, a second, $950,000 program may be recommended.