Rockland looks for lost Retty Lake deposit (August 23, 2010)

New junior Rockland Minerals (RL-V) is on the hunt for a mystery copper-nickel-platinum group metals (PGM) deposit in the southern Labrador Trough along the Quebec-Labrador border.

Rockland is waiting for the results of a recent airborne survey over the Retty Lake property, so it can develop possible drill targets.

The Retty Lake deposit is discussed in several historical reports filed with the Quebec government but the most pertinent information is missing — the location and exploration history, says Rockland president and CEO Rav Mlait.

“There’s mention of a Retty Lake deposit in the government database but when you try to go further they don’t mention the location,” Mlait says.

However in 2007, Ernie Black, a long-time geologist who optioned the Retty Lake property to Rockland, found a cache of 192 old core trays from 1968 drilling done by Hollinger North Shore near the Lac Retty Ouest showing.

At the time, mining companies were not required to file reports with the government.

In the various historical government reports, the Retty Lake deposit is said to have contained 1.35 million tonnes grading 1.5% copper and 0.57% zinc. There is no way to prove the accuracy of these numbers though.

“One of our goals is to rediscover the Retty Lake deposit,” Mlait says.

Similar deposits are located nearby. Rockland’s claims surround the historic Blue Lake massive sulphide lenses, which according to Quebec government data, contain a historical resource of 4 million tonnes grading 1% copper, 0.5% nickel and 1 gram platinum and palladium per tonne.

These claims are controlled by La Foss Platinum Group, a private company that is controlled by longtime mining promoter Pat Sheridan.

The Retty Lake claims are supposedly on trend to the northwest of the Blue Lake lenses.

Rockland describes the area as having intensely folded, layered rock units that have very diagnostic geophysical signatures. The peridotite units are highly magnetic, and massive pyrite and pyrrhotite zone at the top of the Thompson Lake formation sediments is a strong electromagnetic conductor, providing an indirect signature of possible buried copper-nickel-PGM mineralization.

Rockland has a second project in the area; the Schefferville gold property. It’s found within the Ashuanipi sub-province area and is associated with sulphides in silicate iron formations as well as silicate-rich facies of the oxide iron ore formations.

Mlait points out that last year Western Troy (WRY-V) drilled a similar target on a nearby property that returned 7.11 metres grading 5.56 grams gold per tonne and 4 metres of 8.56% lead, 1.96% zinc and 27.67 grams silver per tonne.

“We’ve just wrapped up a week-long field prospecting program at Schefferville,” Mlait says. “We had a couple of geologists head to the property to do mapping and sampling and those samples are now in the lab.”

Rockland listed on the TSX Venture Exchange at the end of June. The company’s shares have been trading around 15¢ apiece, the initial public offering listing price, with about 13.4 million shares outstanding.

In addition to Mlait and Black, the Rockland team includes senior geologist George Sanders. They came together after being involved with Pacific Bay Minerals (PBM-V).