Partners size up East Bay (February 23, 2005)

Equal partners Placer Dome (PDG-T) and Wolfden Resources (WLF-T) have tabled an inferred resource estimate for the Green Altered Zone (GAZ) main zone on the East Bay property, in Ontario’s Red Lake mining district.

Comprising five separate mineralized lenses, the GAZ main zone is estimated to contain 1.4 million tonnes grading 8 grams gold per tonne. The bulk of the resource is contained in the Hot Spot no. 1 zone, and its down-plunge extension, the West Deeps, to the southwest. The estimate employs a cutoff grade of 3 grams gold, and a minimum width of 2 metres.

The resource is hosted by at least three subvertical, altered and mineralized structures containing structurally complex quartz-stringer/veinlet-style, gold-bearing shoots.

Meanwhile, drilling on the newly delineated Gap, East and Contact zones has returned some encouraging results.

At East zone, hole 50 cut 3.5 metres (from 95 metres below surface) grading 22.9 grams gold per tonne, including 0.5 metre of 158 grams gold. Hole 133 returned 2 metres of 11.1 grams gold.

Results form the Gap zone are highlighted by hole 99, which yielded 50 metres (from 127 m) of 2 grams gold, including 8.4 metres of 7 grams gold, and 0.85 metre of 54.5 grams. Hole 140, 175 metres to the west, returned 2.3 metes (from 87.7 m) of 17.7 grams, including 0.4 metre of 101 grams gold.

The Contact yielded 1 metre (from 459 m) of 8.5 grams gold in hole 119, and 1.1 metre (from 565 m) of 6.2 grams gold, including 0.4 metre of 12 grams, in hole 119.

In the lab, metallurgical test work focussed on a drill-core composite averaging 6.8 grams gold, 1.2% sulphur, and 0.09% arsenic. Wolfden says the sample displayed a significant “nugget effect” owing to the presence of visible gold.

Overall gold recovery from the composite via gravity concentration and cyanidation exceeded 93%. That figure climbed to 95.9% and 97.5% during testing of flotation and cyanidation. Recoveries varied from 5.9% to 75% by gravity separation alone, but improved to around 90% when combined with a flotation component. Finally, cyanide leaching produced an overall recovery exceeding 97%.

Meanwhile, on the High Lake polymetallic project in Nunavut, Wolfden will launch "the largest exploration and development program in property history," in March. The campaign is designed to expand existing resources, and turn up new discoveries.

At last count, High Lake’s indicated resource were pegged at 14.3 million tonnes grading 2.34% copper, 0.32% lead and 3.53% zinc, plus 1.01 grams gold and 75.69 grams silver per tonne, based on a cutoff grade of 2% copper-equivalent.