Starfield extends West zone at Ferguson Lake

Vancouver — Drill results from the Ferguson Lake copper-nickel-cobalt-platinum-palladium property, in Nunavut, indicate that the geological resource will be greatly expanded at the West zone.

Starfield Resources (SRU-V) reports that hole 69 in the current program tested the sulphide horizon 80 metres below hole 68, which itself returned up to 1.04% copper, 0.69% nickel, 0.09% cobalt, plus 1.7 grams palladium and 0.33 gram platinum per tonne, over 17.8 metres from a down-hole depth of 438 metres.

Confirming the depth potential of this high-grade zone, the hole cut:

– 1.8% copper, 0.88% nickel, 0.12% cobalt, 2.65 grams palladium and 0.38 gram platinum over 6.3 metres, from 437 metres down-hole;

– 2.2 metres averaging 0.74% copper, 1.1% nickel, 0.14% cobalt, 22 grams palladium and 0.4 gram platinum, from 445 metres down-hole; and

– 5.7 metres grading 0.94% copper, 0.71% nickel, 0.09% cobalt, 1.9 grams palladium and 0.32 gram platinum, from 526 metres down-hole.

The property is 160 km south of Baker Lake.

So far, five holes have been completed during the current round of drilling, and all of them intersected the massive sulphide horizon. Hole 70 was collared 120 metres west of hole 69, whereas hole 71 was drilled 240 metres west of hole 68, and marking the deepest intersection hit to date, hole 72 tested the mineralized horizon 220 metres below hole 71. Assay results from these holes are pending.

Collared 120 metres east of hole 72, the rig is now turning on hole 73. At last count, the West zone hosted an inferred resource of 28.2 million tonnes grading 0.85% copper, 0.56% nickel and 1.2 grams combined platinum-palladium. Included in this resource is a higher-grade core of 7.2 million tonnes averaging 1.1% copper, 0.8% nickel and 2 grams combined platinum-palladium. A geophysical conductor 4.8 km long has traced the zone. The resource occupies only 20% of this geophysical anomaly.

Copper mineralization at the West zone was initially discovered in the 1950s by Inco (N-T), and this find was followed-up three decades later by Homestake Mining (HM-N). The former estimated that the West zone had a resource of 6.4 million tonnes grading 0.87% copper and 0.75% nickel, whereas the latter discovered showings of platinum, palladium and cobalt mineralization in sulphide-bearing outcrops.

The East I zone is estimated to have a resource of 2.9 million tonnes grading 1% copper, 0.8% nickel and 1.2 grams combined platinum-palladium. The East II zone contains 1.3 million tonnes of 0.9% copper, 0.8% nickel and 1.2 grams combined platinum-palladium.

This year’s program is aimed at drill-testing mineralization at greater depths, as well as other geophysical targets.

Starfield earned a 100% interest in the 200-sq.-km property by paying $75,000 in cash, issuing 4.25 million shares and spending $1.7 million on exploration.