Rankin greenstone belt displays ingredients for major discovery

Canada’s second largest Archean greenstone belt, which stretches for nearly 370 miles westward from Rankin Inlet, N.W.T., remains grossly unexplored, says geologist Maureen Jensen, president of Noble Peak Resources (ASE). Known collectively as the Rankin-Ennadai belt, the 150-mile- wide stretch of volcanic rocks runs west from the shores of Hudson Bay. Its similarity to the mineral- rich Abitibi belt in northern Ontario and Quebec has been well documented by geologists such as A.M Goodwin and R.H. Ridler.

Jensen predicts the Rankin- Ennadai belt could become a major new mining centre of the future if more exploration is carried out today. BHP-Utah Mines owns about 12.5% of Noble Peak’s 11 million issued shares.

A significant gold discovery near Rankin Inlet was announced recently by joint venture partners Comaplex Resources (TSE) and Asamera Minerals (TSE) at their Meliadine River project (T.N.M. Nov. 5/90). The Asamera discovery has so far yielded drill results as high as 0.34 oz. gold over 42 ft. in banded iron formation. An expanded $1.5-million work program is planned for next year.

For most of the past year, Jensen has been trying to interest a major mining company in Noble Peak’s claims south of Rankin Inlet. That hasn’t been an easy task, she explained to The Northern Miner in a recent interview. The economic recession has created a virtual famine for juniors seeking exploration money, and senior companies are plucking only the best properties for their portfolios.

“The problem is getting enough money to have a big exploration program,” says Jensen. Having already spent $7 million since 1987 on its claims, Noble Peak would now like to launch a $9-million program over the next three years to follow up its most promising gold discoveries. The 3-year campaign is designed to pinpoint orebodies in the Rankin-Ennadai belt and thereby spearhead a new mining district, she says.

One property the company is especially high on is its Southwin project, which encompasses 74,300 acres and contains two significant gold discoveries — the Cache deposit and Mac gold zone.

Originally discovered in 1988, the Cache deposit has preliminary reserves of 400,000 tons grading 0.26-0.28 oz. gold per ton over a 700-ft. strike length and to a depth of 600 ft. The Mac gold zone, eight miles away, has yielded channel samples as high as 0.43 oz. gold over 23 ft. The latter zone occurs in carbonatized and pyritized mafic volcanics.

Noble Peak is also in a joint venture project with Dejour Mines (TSE) on the Turquetil gold property which hosts preliminary reserves of around 500,000 tons grading 0.18 oz. gold.

“Because of the area’s remote location, gold grades have to be good and the deposits have to be big,” she says. Only with large tonnage and high grades will new deposits be able to overcome the area’s remoteness from infrastructure. But, she says the Canadian government is currently upgrading port facilities along Hudson Bay and freight can be shipped by boat from Montreal.

The first significant mining operation in the Canadian Arctic was at Rankin Inlet where nickel ore was mined in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The Inuit employment program at the mine was probably the first successful large-scale experiment with the employment of Inuit workers in industrial wage labor. Rankin Inlet is a major distribution centre for the eastern Northwest Territories with daily jet service from Winnipeg, Man., and connections to Yellowknife, N.W.T.

Willie Adams, currently the only Inuit senator in Canada, sits on Noble Peak’s board of directors. Jensen says the local residents of Rankin Inlet have been quick to cash in on the expediting, camp construction and fuel supply business generated by exploration activity.

It was around this time last year that the 32-million-ton Tundra gold deposit was deemed uneconomic by partners Total Energold (TSE), Noranda (TSE) and Hemlo Gold (TSE). The refractory gold deposit, which consists of multiple zones of disseminated arsenopyrite and pyrrhotite, is about 130 miles north of Yellowknife.

After completing a $35-million exploration program including 4,660 ft. of underground tunnelling, the partners said the deposit was “too low-grade and discontinuous to be economic” at prevailing gold prices. But, they said there is still “potential for high-grade, non- refractory reserves elsewhere on the 24,515-acre property.” Operator Noranda continues to test other nearby targets.

One of the most successful and profitable gold mines in the Northwest Territories remains the Lupin mine of Echo Bay Mines (TSE). In September, another new gold mine — the Colomac — was officially opened by NorthWest Gold, 137 miles north of Yellowknife. The project was considered high-risk because of its low grade ( 0.055 oz. gold) and remote location. One attractive feature of the Northwest Territories is its 3-year exemption from mining taxes for new mines.