Thunderwood sends 2 rigs to Scott Lake

Partners Thunderwood Resources (TSE) and Greenstone Resources (TSE) will resume the search for an economic massive sulphide deposit on their Scott Lake joint venture when drilling begins at the Chibougamau, Que., property this week. Shares of the equal partners have been active since they announced the discovery of a large copper-zinc-rich stringer zone in the 10th hole of a 15,000-ft. drill program in a previously untested area of the 5,988-acre property.

John Heslop, president of operator Thunderwood, says the joint venture will use two drill rigs to probe on either side of hole SL-91-83 which intersected 681.6 ft. of 0.45% copper and 0.74% zinc per ton at a depth of 1,800 ft.

To follow up on the discovery, Thunderwood plans to complete 25,000 ft. of drilling at a cost of $400,000.

As hole SL-91-83 was collared one mile west of a deposit containing 777,000 tons of grade 6.87% zinc, 0.41% copper, 0.34 oz. silver and 0.01 oz. gold, Heslop is excited about the prospects of finding a big deposit.

Sulphide mineralization in hole SL-91-83 remains open in all directions and a strong “off-hole” pulse EM conductor, below another hole located 300 ft. further west, remains untested.

“We are in the right place geologically for the discovery of a massive sulphide deposit, but we still need some luck,” Heslop told The Northern Miner.

His enthusiasm is shared by a number of Toronto mining analysts who have visited Thunderwood’s offices to examine the core and discuss the company’s future exploration plans.

According to Ron Coll, an analyst at McLean McCarthy Ltd. in Toronto, the rock types and alteration within the zone bear all the hallmarks of an exciting new discovery. “It is unusual to find an intersection this thick and there will not be a massive sulphide deposit in the vicinity,” he said. However, he warned that the discovery may not lead to anything of economic significance.

Between March 28 (the day after the announcement) and April 2, speculation on future exploration results drove the price of Thunderwood shares up to $1.42 from $1.22 on a volume of more than one million shares.

The Greenstone issue was also active. It climbed to $3.25 from $3 as 288,611 shares changed hands.

Analysts attribute the greater interest in Thunderwood to the exploration track record of sister company Aur Resources (TSE) which is developing a large massive sulphide deposit east of Val d’Or, Que., in partnership with Societe Miniere Louvem (TSE). Aur owns 500,000 of Thunderwood’s 19.2 million issued shares, representing a 3% interest.

Greenstone’s two largest shareholders are director Neil Raymond and the Bronfman-controlled Claridge Group. Each holds about 12% of the company’s 10.5 million issued shares.