Northshore results boost GTA, Balmoral

Shares of GTA Resources and Mining (GTA-V) surged $1.29, or 529% in a day to  $1.54 on 7.8 million shares traded after the company released drill results from the Northshore gold property in Ontario’s Hemlo-Schrieber greenstone belt. Joint-venture partner Balmoral Resources (BAR-V) rose 6¢, or 6%, to close at $1.10 per share with nearly 4 million shares trading hands.

The first phase of drilling completed in October involved 12 closely spaced holes totalling 1,038 metres that targeted the Audney and Caly veins. Gold mineralization was found in each hole and drilling confirmed continuity of the high-grade, gold-bearing vein system along strike and to depth.

Drilling intersected additional high-grade veins and demonstrated better-than-expected continuity of the broad Afric gold system hosting the vein structures, report Balmoral and GTA Resources and Mining in separate press releases.

Highlights include capped intercepts in the Afric zone of 150 metres grading 0.99 gram gold per tonne in hole 11-07, 159 metres of 1.05 grams gold in hole 11-09 and 150 metres of 1.20 grams gold in hole 11-11. All of the holes ended within the mineralized system.

Intercepts in the Audney vein system were 7 metres of 13.23 grams gold including 1 metre of 131.99 grams gold in hole 11-01, and 4 metres of 10.28 grams gold in hole 11-09.

In the Caly vein system, shallow high-grade intercepts were 33 metres of 12.49 grams gold, including 0.4 metre of 760.15 grams gold in hole 11-11, while hole 11-08 cut 4 metres of 17.25 grams gold. Hole 11-09 intersected 4 metres of 14.94 grams gold.

The Afric zone has been intersected in widely spaced historic drilling for at least 480 metres along strike and remains open to the east. The zone is characterized by intense fracturing and brittle deformation associated with moderate to strong alteration of felsic intrusive rocks. These brittle felsic rocks have been intruded with several northeast-trending, high-grade quartz vein systems, including the Audney and Caly Veins.

Balmoral acquired the property in late 2010 and optioned the property to GTA Resources and Mining in 2011. GTA has an option to earn up to a 70% interest by spending $5.5 million on exploration, issuing 3.5 million shares to Balmoral and making cash payments totalling $150,000. Balmoral holds about 7% of GTA’s shares. GTA is the operator of the project.

The Northshore project lies along the north shore of Lake Superior, 60 km west of the high-grade Hemlo deposit and 12 km south of the formerly producing Winston Lake copper-zinc-gold-silver deposit. The project is road accessible.

Prospector Peter McKeller first identified gold mineralization on the property while prospecting on the shores of Lake Superior in 1898.

Between 1935 and 1937 Northshore Gold Mines produced 3.81 tons of gold ore from the Northshore zone at an average grade of 21.80 grams gold per tonne. The mill was destroyed in a fire during the 1980s.

Noranda Exploration and Hemlo Gold Mines held an option on the property between 1998 and 1992. Noranda identified and drill tested five zones in addition to the Northshore zone. This work discovered the Afric zone, which Balmoral says appears at the intersection of two large-scale structures.

Noranda calculated a historic resource estimate for the Afric zone, from surface to a vertical depth of 150 metres, of 2 million tonnes grading 2.20 grams gold for 135,000 contained oz. gold.

Subsequent trenching and drilling by Cyprus Canada and American Bonanza Gold identified extensions to the Afric, Northshore and zones 2 to 5 on the property, all of which remain open to depth.

The final hole of American Bonanza Gold’s 2007 drill program returned an intercept of 24.75 grams gold over 3 metres at a vertical depth of less 20 metres from the number 2  zone in an area of limited historic drilling, Balmoral states.

Last year Balmoral optioned the property to GTA Resources and Mining. GTA’s initial work on the property resulted in a revised structural interpretation for the Afric zones and the high-grade vein structures located within it.