Noranda makes zinc find in Wisconsin; The first two holes drilled

The first hole on the Lynne project, drilled at 52 degrees , intersected 128 ft. averaging 22.71% zinc, 0.64% copper, 2.95% lead, 1.04 oz. silver per ton and 0.011 oz. gold.

The second hole, drilled at 56 degrees under the first and collared 150 ft. north, intersected 379.7 ft. averaging 8.54% zinc, 0.26% copper, 2.11% lead, 4.79 oz. silver and 0.013 oz. gold.

Both intersections are at fairly shallow depths, indicating the possibility of an open pit operation should the project advance to the mining stage. The first intersection is from 135.5 to 263.5 ft., the second from 55 to 434.7 ft.

While the two holes permit only one section to be visualized, the width of the intersections, continuity of grade and strength of the geophysical anomaly that led to the drill targets all prompt the exploration team to envisage a significant deposit has been discovered.

“If it’s too small to be an orebody, we’d be very, very surprised,” John Harvey, president of Noranda Exploration, told The Northern Miner. He cautions, however, that it is too early to make any assumptions about the economic viability of the discovery.

Walter Nash, director of U.S. exploration, says the results have vaulted the project to the top of Noranda’s grassroots exploration projects in the U.S. Noranda typically goes through about 400 such projects across North America each year.

Michael Donnelly, division manager for the project, informed Oneida Cty. officials of the discovery while district geologist Glen Adams travelled to Toronto to brief Noranda’s head office staff.

Two drill rigs are on the property now to delineate the deposit. One hole is being drilled 200 ft. west of the first hole, the other 200 ft. east of the first hole. The geophysical anomaly covers an east-west strike length of about 1,200 ft. with a big central width of about 500 ft., tapering off to 20-30 ft. at either end.

Harvey says Noranda will likely spend about $2-3 million before the end of the year to delineate the deposit. If it holds up, it would be subject to a feasibility study beginning in early 1991.

The discovery could be called an overnight success that took 18 years to attain. The property was obtained from the county through a competitive auction in May, 1989. Noranda’s bid, offering the county a 3% net smelter royalty plus a 5.31% net profits royalty, beat the only other bidder. Before the auction, the land was not available for exploration because the ground could not be leased.

It wasn’t until December, however, that title was gained so that exploration work could begin. Once ground geophysics helped identify targets, the first two holes were drilled, and they hit the massive sulphide, volcanogenic deposit.

While that history makes the discovery sound easy, in fact Noranda has been working in the area for 18 years. It has kept an office in Rhinelander, Wis., about 27 miles east of the project, since 1972. During that time it has spent about US$8 million on exploration in the area (equivalent to about double that in 1990 dollars).

“This is the first indication of ore we’ve had,” said Nash.

The discovery is roughly in the middle of the leased lands which amount to 2,419 acres. There is no joint venture partner, although there are some small blocks of private land within that large leased area. The only ongoing fees are $5 per acre rental fee payable to the county.

Adams says the county has been co-operative and he anticipates no problems with permitting for future work on the project. Harvey says that the permitting procedure is involved but well laid out and can be followed.

While Wisconsin is an agricultural state, the area of the discovery is primarily bush with much of the land previously leased for timber rights.

While the area currently has no producers, two base metal projects in the general area are well advanced. Kennecott Corp.’s Flambeau project in Rusk Cty., about 50 miles west, is scheduled to produce about 28,000 tons of copper annually beginning in 1991 and Exxon’s Crandon project is about 50 miles east. All three deposits are within one east-west trending greenstone band.