NAP cuts new high-grade at depth

Deep core drilling by North American Palladium (PDL-T) at its newly expanded Lac des les palladium mine, near Thunder Bay, Ont., has turned up a new high-grade zone down plunge of the mine’s Main high-grade zone (previously called the high-grade Shear zone), which forms the deposit’s core.

From mid-May to mid-August of this year, three drills sank 17 new holes for 15,553 metres, and extended 12 previously drilled holes for another 2,871 metres. Drilling focused on the down-plunge extension of the Main zone and the newly discovered Offset high-grade zone below 560 metres.

The Offset zone lies beneath a recently discovered fault and is offset about 250 metres to the west of the Main zone. It has been traced from a vertical depth of 560 metres to 903 metres and has been drilled over a 300-metre strike length. The zone remains open to the south, at depth and toward the surface, beneath the fault. Oblique normal movement along the fault has displaced the Roby zone towards the surface.

Highlighting drill results on the Offset zone are:

• Hole 008 25.5 metres (true width, beginning at 939.9 metres below surface) grading 4.98 grams palladium, 0.32 gram platinum and 0.37 gram gold per tonne;
• Hole 020 29.5 metres (from 906 m) of 6.53 grams palladium, 0.4 gram platinum and 0.5 gram gold, including 10.9 metres of 11.2 grams palladium and 0.53 gram platinum;
• Hole 047 16.5 metres (from1,000 m) of 5.08 grams palladium, 0.35 gram platinum and 0.36 gram gold, including 4.2 metres of 8 grams palladium and 0.48 gram platinum;
• Hole 050 29 metres (from 916.5 m) of 5.55 grams palladium, 0.33 gram platinum and 0.41 gram gold;
• Hole 052 50.5 metres (from 973.5 m) of 5.44 grams palladium, 0.37 gram platinum and 0.41 gram gold, including the top 9.8 metres of the interval, which run 10.32 grams palladium and 0.68 platinum; and
• Hole 055 43.5 metres (from 932.7 m) of 4.87 grams palladium, 0.31 grams platinum and 0.27 grams gold.

The remaining holes returned similar grades over smaller intervals. Deepening of twelve previous holes to hit the new zone returned similar results. The widest intersection, 38 metres (from 861.3 m) in hole 150, ran 4.8 grams palladium and 0.33 gram platinum.

The Offset zone was first surmised following ore definition drilling in 1999 and 200. That drilling delineated the Main zone to a depth of 550 metres. Six deep step-out holes cut the zone at a depth of 620 metres, and geological interpretation based on the holes suggested potential faulting at depth with a possible displacement of the Roby Zone. Initial drill results in April of 2001 confirmed the displacement.

Main zone extended

Drilling on the main zone returned similar results. Better intersections include:

Hole 055 — 15 metres (from 654 m) grading 7.88 grams palladium and 0.41 grams platinum and
• Hole 056 — 9 metres (from 654 m) grading 11.87 grams palladium and 0.54 grams platinum.

The holes have extended the Main zone’s strike length to 390 metres. The zone, which dips sub-vertically, is cut-off by the fault at a depth of 390 metres to the south to 625 metres to the north. It remains open to the north and down plunge.

NAP says the latest holes support the possibility of future underground mining below the ultimate pit depth of 400 metres at Lac des les. The company plans a program of structural analysis of the fault followed by a resource estimate. Further drilling is required to determine the full extent of each of the high-grade zones.

Exploration efforts for the rest of the year will shift to the breccia ore in the southwestern extension of the Roby zone. Near-surface drilling, to depths of up to 500 metres, will aim to delineate additional palladium resources.

At last report, reserves at Lac des les were pegged at 96.2 million tonnes grading 1.55 grams palladium per tonne. Another 40.8 million tonnes averaging 1.62 grams are classified as a measured and indicated resource, and still more material is classified as inferred. The deposit sits in a mafic-to-ultramafic intrusive complex after which the mine is named.