News Roundup (April 05, 2004)

Aquiline launches Navidad suit

Aquiline Resources (AQI-V) has brought its battle for the high-grade Navidad silver discovery in the Patagonia region of southern Argentina to the Supreme Court of British Columbia.

The Toronto-based junior has asked the court to establish a “constructive trust” over the project, which is in Chubut province. A constructive trust, also referred to as “unjust enrichment,” requires the enrichment of one party and the deprivation of another. Also, there must be no legal justification for the enrichment.

Aquiline says IMA Exploration (IMR-V) unlawfully used confidential information owned by Aquiline to identify and acquire Navidad. IMA says Aquiline’s allegations are without merit and intends to defend.

Claude bumps resource at Seabee

The Seabee gold mine in northern Saskatchewan replaced its reserves and outlined a significantly larger inferred resource in 2004.

Owner Claude Resources (CRJ-T) announced that a reserve audit by consulting firm A.C.A. Howe International returned an estimate of 674,722 tonnes grading 7.5 grams gold per tonne. At the end of 2002, the mine had 661,200 tonnes grading 8 grams.

Resource drilling at Seabee outlined additional resources outside the reserve blocks. The inferred resource now stands at 2 million tonnes grading 8.5 grams gold per tonne, up from 1.4 million tonnes at 8 grams at the end of 2002.

The company has budgeted $1.7 million for exploration on its land package surrounding Seabee, including 20,000 metres of drilling to investigate exploration targets at West Porky, the Porky Lake anticline, the East Pine Lake fault splay, and areas east of Santoy Lake.

Southland evacuated again

Safety problems persist at the Southland coal mine in New South Wales, Australia, where production has been suspended since the end of 2003 following an underground fire.

Owner Gympie Gold (GGD-L) recently ordered an evacuation after the mining contractor encountered unsafe conditions in a haulageway. The contractor has decided to lay off its staff at the mine.

Gympie has been in voluntary administration since year-end as a result of the suspension of production at Southland. The administrator, accounting firm KPMG, has offered Gympie’s gold-mining subsidiary, Gympie Eldorado, for sale.

Gympie Eldorado operates the Gympie gold mine, 180 km north of Brisbane, which produced 9,820 oz. gold at a cash cost of A$470 per oz. in the three months ended Dec. 31, 2003. The Gympie deposit and the satellite Partridge deposit had proven and probable reserves of 667,000 tonnes grading 7.5 grams gold per tonne at the end of June 2003.

Final offers for Gympie Eldorado and for Gympie’s interest in Australian-listed junior D’Aguilar Exploration were due in mid-March.

Spider, KWG find more at McFaulds

Drilling at the McFaulds Lake property in northern Ontario has intersected more base metal sulphide mineralization.

Partners Spider Resources (SPQ-V) and KWG Resources (kwg-v) report that the highlight was 2.5-metre intersection grading 4.39% copper and 0.01% zinc, plus 0.9 gram gold and 8.9 grams silver per tonne. The intersection was at a vertical depth of about 300 metres and tested about 120 metres downdip from mineralization found in two earlier drill holes, 21 and 24.

Hole 21 intersected 13.8 metres grading 5.5% copper and 0.34% zinc, with gold and silver credits, while hole 24 had cut 12.1 metres grading 1.81% copper and 0.07% zinc.

Drilling has been halted for the spring breakup, but down-hole geophysical surveys and further drilling are planned once the ice is out.

Acadian hits high grade in N.S.

Acadian Gold (ADA-V) has intersected bonanza-grade gold mineralization at the Forest Hill project in Nova Scotia.

Recent results from the property include a 1.2-metre intersection on the School House No. 1 vein that graded 192.9 grams gold per tonne (5.63 oz. per ton). The drill hole was one of eight that tested “ribbon” gold structures in the hinges of folds as possible areas of gold mineralization.

Six of the holes intersected significant mineralization, including a number of narrow intersections grading 11-118 grams gold per tonne. Over widths of 1.2 metres, which Acadian considers the minimum for practical mining, typical grades were in the range of 1-7 grams.

Nuggety gold is common in the Meguma, and it is not unusual to get either bonanza grades or relatively low grades in drill holes. The high-grade intersection that ran 192.9 grams was mainly carried by a 15-cm interval grading 1,494 grams per tonne.

Acadian is trying a new structural model, based on results in the Bendigo gold district of Australia, on gold mineralization in the Meguma group sediments of eastern Nova Scotia. WMC (wmc-n) and Seabright Resources sank a 230-metre shaft on the property in the 1980s, producing some development ore but never putting the project into commercial production.

Rio Tinto hits nickel in Michigan

Rio Tinto (RTP-N) has discovered a small, high-grade nickel-copper deposit at its Eagle prospect in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

A resource of 5 million tonnes grading 3.6% nickel and 3% copper, with platinum group elements and gold credits, is inferred from drilling.

Mining and processing options are being assessed, and initial project evaluations are to be completed in the first half of 2004.

“The nickel sulphide in Michigan is small, and potentially offers the prospect of development in the short-to-medium term, but really what we’re after is a more substantial discovery,” says CEO Leigh Clifford.

High-grade nickel-copper sulphide mineralization was first discovered at the Eagle property in 2002. During the 2003 campaign, crews obtained 15 drill intersections in the deposit. Eagle is described as a Norilsk-style nickel-copper-platinoid metal deposit.