reserve picture bright for Newhawk, Lacana

There has been a sharp increase in West zone reserves at the Sulphurets property in northwestern B.C. Newhawk Gold Mines and Lacana Mining’s combined 60% interest in the project has now been put into the Newcana Joint Venture.

The two companies spent approximately $2 million at Sulphurets this year and are now fully vested. Granduc Mines now will have to contribute its share of exploration and development costs or be diluted.

According to Fred G. Hewett, Newhawk’s vice-president exploration, over-all tonnage for the West zone has increased to 1,016,730 tons from 546,873 tons uncut. The reserve grades 0.33 oz gold per ton and 21 oz silver and more than half of it is drill-indicated with the rest classified as inferred. Total reserves in the Brucejack area in all categories are 1.6 million tons at 0.34 oz gold and 22.9 oz silver.

Drill-indicated reserves are based on 38,590 ft of surface drilling conducted on 66-ft spacings and to a depth of 500 ft along a strike length of 1,000 ft. Mr Hewett notes that the zone is still open at depth and to the south, and he confirms the 21,797 ft of drilling completed this year was mostly in-fill. The inferred reserves are not based on a lot of holes,” he states. Two holes were also drilled in the Shore zone and he says these essentially confirmed the grade and tonnage blocked out by Esso Minerals.

The gold-bearing structure is strong to at least 1,000 ft and he reports the grade seems to be improving at depth, suggesting it’s not a classic epithermal-type deposit. Of the two holes, testing to a depth of 1,000 ft, S-86-175 intersected 39.5 ft of 0.54 oz gold and 30.8 oz silver at a depth of 800 ft from surface. The other, S-86-176, returned 13 ft grading 0.42 oz and 1 9.4 oz silver at a depth of 1,000 ft.

This year’s program consisted of more than 1,400 ft of decline, crosscutting, drifting and raising. The first crosscut encountered widths that were substantially better than those indicated by surface drilling, says Newhawk. Results included 50 ft of 0.234 oz gold and 6.2 oz silver and 17 ft of 0.22 oz gold and 14.3 oz silver. Assay results from a second crosscut are expected in the next week.

The main economic minerals encountered so far are electrum, pyrargyrite (a silver ore), tetrahydrite and argentite, and the metallurgy seems relatively simple, he says. The joint venture plans to freight supplies into the region over the winter months and Mr Hewett concedes the project will need good road access for production. For all-weather access, a 36-mile road would hav e to be put in from the Stewart-Cassiar highway. An in- house feasibility study will be done over the winter months and development of the Mount Klappan coal deposit by Gulf Canada could make it feasible to bring power into Sulphurets. There is also the potential for developing some small hydro” in the r egion but diesel electric power is the most obvious method.