STOCK MARKETS — Western markets regain some strength — Drill results keep Cross Lake hopeful; Winspear makes headway at Snap Lake

The Vancouver Stock Exchange composite index finished the report period ended Jan. 20 up 14.86 points, or 2.6%, at 594.06. The mining index closed at 489.72, a gain of 19.51 points, or 4.1%. The combined value of the Alberta Stock Exchange edged 36.24 points higher, or 1.7%, to close at 2,148.98.

Toronto-listed Golden Knight Resources reported that results from five stepout drill holes on its 60%-held Night Hawk Lake joint-venture project confirmed the volcanogenic massive sulphide system discovered on Cross Lake Minerals’ adjoining 100%-held Sheraton-Timmins property, east of Timmins, Ont., extends on to the Night Hawk project. Highlights included a 1.5-metre section grading 0.69% zinc, 1.2 grams gold and 398 grams silver per tonne within a 20.5-metre band averaging 1.15% zinc in hole 97-18. A copper zone was intersected by hole 97-27 returning 1.06% copper over 3.7 metres. The remaining interests in Night Hawk are held by Cross Lake (16%), down 6cents at $1.44, East West Resource (16%), down 6cents at 35 cents, and Canadian Golden Dragon Resources (8%), unchanged at 35cents.

In the meantime, Cross Lake has resumed drilling on the Sheraton-Timmins property and is planning a 5,000-metre program. The company also released results of the remaining nine holes from the previous program. Better results included 22.5 metres of 1.35% zinc and 40 grams silver in hole 97-28 and 45 metres of 1.43% zinc and 26.5 grams silver in hole 97-35.

Winspear Resources closed at $1.25, up 9cents in heavy trading, on the commencement of a $2.7-million winter-spring exploration program in the Snap Lake region of the Camsell Lake diamond project in the Northwest Territories.

The program will include about 250 line km of ground geophysical surveys prior to the startup of a 7,300-metre diamond drilling program. Winspear is the operator of the Camsell Lake project and holds a 57.3% interest, while Toronto-listed Aber Resources, its joint-venture partner, holds a 42.7% interest.

Alberta-listed partners Montello Resources and Redwood Resources have begun a drilling program on the Southeast Block in the Buffalo Hills area of north-central Alberta. The program will test 18 geophysical targets for their kimberlite potential. Montello closed down 5cents at 81cents, while Redwood was up 5cents at $1.90.

Rupert Resources remained unchanged $3.15. The company is in the midst of a due diligence drilling program on the former-producing Crown kimberlite pipe in South Africa. A vertically drilled hole into the “bulge” was shut down at a depth of 432 metres after the hole failed to encounter the higher-grade hypabyssal kimberlite. Instead, the hole cut approximately 20-30 metres of tuffisitic kimberlite breccia before passing into a shale-rich breccia.

Surface dumps of uncrushed hypabyssal kimberlite were thought to have come from development work carried out in the 1930s within the “bulge” at the 335-metre level. Based on the drilling results to date, Rupert now believes the hypabyssal material found on surface came from within the main pipe itself. The first hole of the drilling program intersected 212 metres of hypabyssal kimberlite, bottoming out in the material at a downhole depth of 905 metres, equal to a vertical depth of 800 metres below surface. The third hole, which is currently in progress, encountered hypabyssal kimberlite beginning at a downhole depth of 476 metres and has so far intersected a total of 98.7 metres. A fourth hole is under way into the nearby satellite pipe. Rupert can earn up to a 75% interest in the subsurface rights of the mine and a 50% interest in a surface tailings reprocessing project.