Robert’s Arm extended to partners

A second phase of drilling in the Buchans-Robert’s Arm volcanic belt of central Newfoundland has come back dry for Altius Minerals (ALS-V) and Inmet Mining (IMN-T).

The partners sank one new hole and extended an old one at its Robert’s Arm project, for 846 metres in all. This is in addition to the 1,329 metres drilled earlier this year, all of which was funded by Inmet as part of its requirements to earn a 55% stake in the property.

Hole 4, drilled to a depth of 456 metres, failed to cut any significant mineralization. The hole targeted a massive sulphide horizon that was projected from an intersection of 4.4% copper over 4.4 metres, some 200 metres to the east.

Although no mineralization was found, the hole did confirm that the targeted felsic horizon lies beneath a chloritized basaltic unit that forms the footwall of the historic Pilley’s Island mine. This, in turn, proves that most of the old drilling stopped short of the horizon.

Hole 221-15, first drilled in the mid-1990s by Phelps Dodge to test stratigraphy downdip of the old mine, was deepened by 390 metres. The hole passed through 200 metres of strongly altered volcanics as it progressed to its targeted depth of 862 metres.

Weakly altered basalts that became progressively more chloritized and mineralized culminated in a unit of strongly altered pyritic felsic volcanics. This lower horizon rests on top of a zone of massive sulphide and barite veining, and an off-hole electromagnetic conductor was detected at a similar depth to the south.

The volcanics carried an average of 10% disseminated pyrite and lessor amounts of base metals. A gradation to massive sulphides does occur in places, with the best averaging 1.3% zinc over 6 metres.

Altius adds that this altered and mineralized section is the thickest ever intersected on the property and that the pattern supports earlier evidence of the stratigraphy’s having been overturned. The nearest holes were drilled more than 500 metres in the updip direction, 670 metres in the eastern direction and more than 1.5 km to the west.