Partners resume drilling at Caber property

Partners Noranda (NOR-T) and Southern Africa Minerals (SAF-T) are resuming exploration of the latter’s Caber zinc-copper property in Quebec’s Matagami region.

The co-managed program will include an initial 8,000 metres of diamond drilling to test three targets: the Caber North area; downdip extensions of the Caber deposit; and the new Lower Tuffite horizon discovered in late 1998. Widely spaced stratigraphic drilling will also be carried out over 2.5 km, along strike of the favorable horizon.

Following last year’s intersection of the Lower Tuffite horizon by hole 51, two more widely spaced drill holes have been deepened. Both have intersected Lower Tuffite mineralization. The best intercept was returned by hole CB-97-27ext, which graded 5.3% copper, 0.07% zinc and 3.4 grams silver per tonne over 2.7 metres.

The partners believe that the Lower Tuffite horizon correlates with a marker horizon named Key Tuffite, which hosts those base metal deposits that are known to exist in the Matagami camp.

Noranda’s prefeasibility study at Caber is nearing completion. The major can earn up to a 70% interest in the property by bringing it into production, spending $6 million on work programs, and privately placing $2.8 million in Southern Africa over four years. Under the terms of the option agreement, Noranda was due, on Jan. 15, to enter into a $400,000 private placement at $1.37 per Southern Africa share.

Not accounting for last year’s drilling campaign, resources at Caber have been estimated at 1.3 million tonnes grading 5.4% zinc and 1.3% copper. The deposit includes a high-grade zinc-copper core with an indicated resource of 412,600 tonnes grading 12.4% zinc, 1% copper and 15 grams silver per tonne, using a 9% zinc cutoff and a 4.5-metre mining width.