Placer takes shine to Grayd’s White Gold

Vancouver — Placer Dome (PDG-T) has inked a deal to earn a 51% stake in White Gold project, near Tok, Alaska. In return, the major must pay the vendor, Grayd Resource (GYD-V), US$3.1 million over four years.

Placer can increase its interest to 70% by completing a bankable feasibility study, and the company has committed to spending a minimum of US$350,000 on exploration this year. Grayd will continue operating the project in 2001, after which time Placer can assume that role.

The property is in a portion of the Tintina belt where gold mineralization has been identified along an 8-km trend. Hand-trenching has outlined seven targets:

– At the Shalosky showing, hand-trenching has turned up mineralization grading 3.9 grams gold per tonne over a true width of 16.4 metres. This includes a 10.7-metre section of 5.3 grams gold. Soil samples taken 500 metres northeast of the trench assayed up to 2.8 grams gold.

– At the Hunter showing, hand-trench samples returned 1.3 grams gold over 3.5 metres.

– Hand-trenching at the Low showing revealed a 9.8-metre true-width section averaging 8.6 grams gold, including a 3.8-metre interval of 14.3 grams gold. Mineralization at Low has been identified over a 180-metre strike length and remains open.

– The HD Area has a 2,300-metre gold-antimony-arsenic anomaly.

– The Flicka showing hosts a 17-metre-wide silicified zone grading up to 2.2 grams gold over 2.7 metres from near-surface samples.

– At the Goldberg showing, talus in a hand trench averaged 9.6 grams gold over 17 metres, and assays reached values of up to 115.5 gram gold. A talus grab sample 700 metres northeast of the trench returned 23 grams gold.

No information was available for the seventh target, dubbed Kokanee Hill.