TerraX Minerals explores for gold north of Giant mine in Yellowknife

A little over a year ago, TerraX Minerals (TSXV: TXR; US-OTC: TRXXF) acquired the Northbelt gold property, just north of the past-producing Giant mine and 15 km north of the city of Yellowknife in Canada’s Northwest Territories.

Northbelt covers 13 km of strike of the northern extension of the geology that played host to the Giant and Con gold mines, which turned out 7.8 million oz. gold and 5.5 million oz. gold.  

In early March TerraX received approval to drill the property, which makes up part of the junior’s Yellowknife City gold project. The permit — granted by the MacKenzie Valley Land and Water Board — is good for five years and comes with the option of a two-year extension.

The Northbelt acquisition came with a large historical database of exploration data consisting of 463 holes, of which 200 had preserved core that had been stored in the core yard at the Giant mine. Available logs provided information on collar locations, down-hole surveys, geology and gold assays.

Over the last year TerraX has been analyzing and re-assaying the core.  

About 187 of the historic holes were drilled into the property’s Crestaurum deposit and several dozen holes intersected other gold mineralized shear zones, notably the Barney Shear, which TerraX believes is an extension of the Giant mine shear zone.

The Crestaurum target has been modelled over 1.4 km of strike and the Barney Shear delineated over a 4.5 km strike.

Results from the company’s 2013 sampling and re-assaying program included intercepts of 20.9 metres grading 3.79 grams gold per tonne, including 4 metres of 12.59 grams gold per tonne in hole 95-16; and 21.1 metres of 2.97 grams gold, including 3.9 metres averaging 8.81 grams gold, in hole 94-1A.

Other notable intercepts were 27 metres of 1.90 grams gold, including 2.7 metres of 8.97 grams gold in hole 96-4 and 5 metres near surface of 20.66 grams gold in hole 85-187.

Seven hundred grab and chip samples included values up to 145 grams gold, 529 grams silver, greater than 20% lead, 9.44% zinc and 0.85% molybdenum.

The company says it is fully funded for its drill program this year.

Northbelt is accessible by road year-round and located 8 km from Yellowknife’s airport and 2 km from the Bluefish hydro dam.

The Northbelt property was explored in the early 1940s at the beginning of the Yellowknife gold rush. Drilling began in 1945, and there was intermittent work on the property throughout the 1960s and 1970s. By the 1970s, Giant Gold mines had consolidated the property and started exploration, and by the end of the 1980s had completed substantial drill programs.

More exploration and drill programs were completed in the mid-1990s before the project went dormant.

TerraX acquired the property out of receivership from Century Mining in 2013. Senior management at Century Mining had experience operating the Giant mine and acquired the Northbelt property in 2005, but it remained unexplored while Century developed its Sigma-Lamaque project in Val-d’Or, Que.

In May 2012, Century went into receivership and its assets were liquidated, including Northbelt.

Recently TerraX added to its ground position near Yellowknife, buying the UBreccia property, contiguous and southwest of Northbelt.

UBreccia has three claims totalling 13.94 sq. km, and brings the company’s Yellowknife gold project to 84 sq. km.

Over the last year TerraX has traded within a range of 12¢ and 90¢ per share, and at press time traded at 75¢ per share. The junior has nearly 43 million shares outstanding.