A 3-compartment, rectangular shaft should be completed on Acadia Mineral Ventures’ (TSE) Mooseland property in Nova Scotia by mid-summer, 1989, according to Grant Bye, project manager.
Speaking at the Nova Scotia Department of Mines annual open house, in Halifax, Bye said a dam, designed to retain plant site runoff and water pumped from the underground workings has just been completed and shaft-sinking can now proceed. The water is being retained to protect the quality of water in the Tangier River, a salmon-bearing tributary.
Hecla Mining of Idaho, which is the operator of the project, can earn a 35% interest and Biron Bay Resources (ASE), can earn a 25% interest in the property by determining the feasibility of mining the gold deposit and if positive, bring the property into production.
The deposit has an inferred mineral inventory of 456,800 tons grading 0.46 oz gold per ton, according to Hecla.
The work, being conducted by Patrick Harrison and Co. of North Bay, which is expected to cost $10 million, will include the 1,083-ft shaft, six shaft stations spaced 50 m apart, development work on two levels and diamond drilling from underground stations. The East Zone of the deposit will be explored from the 150-m level and the West Zone will be explored from t he 300-m level.
In the East Zone, Hecla plans to drive 450 m of drift, measuring 2.5 x 2.75 m then drive several small raises measuring 1.5 x 2.1 m to test the vertical continuity of mineralization in the higher-grade areas. About 5,000-7,000 tons of mineralization will be hoisted during this part of the exploration program.
In the West Zone, plans include about 300 m of drift in waste rock and 200 m in mineralization as well as a number of raises. About 7,000- 10,000 tons of mineralization will be hoisted.
“Each round of mineralized rock will be sampled and then processed individually through a concentrator to extract whatever gold is present in the rock,” Bye says. “Individual processing of each round of rock should yield the maximum amount of useful grade information and minimize sampling errors caused by the nuggety nature of the mineralization.”
Arrangements for concentrator facilities have not yet been determined.
About 2,000 m of diamond drilling is planned, split equally between the 150 and 300-m levels. The entire program should be completed in early 1990.
Tri-Explorations, a private Nova Scotia company, retains a 3% net smelter royalty on the property.
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