Great Bear Resources reported multiple gold discoveries along 3.2 kilometres strike length of the approximately 18 kilometre long LP Fault target at its 100% owned Dixie project in the Red Lake district of Ontario. Highlights of the new drill results include:
All drill holes that have intersected the LP Fault to-date have successfully intersected gold mineralization along 3.2 kilometres of strike length. The new high-grade "Auro" Zone was drilled at a 2.6 kilometre step-out to the southeast of the Bear-Rimini Discovery area.
New high-grade gold intercepts include: 101.70 g/t gold over 1.50 metres, within 10.65 g/t gold over 17.25 metres at the Auro Zone, and 27.77 g/t gold over 2.00 metres within 11.08 g/t gold over 7.00 metres in the Yuma Zone.
Wide intervals of disseminated gold mineralization have been drilled surrounding, and adjacent to the high-grade intercepts, including: 42.00 metres of 5.28 g/t gold in the Auro Zone; 22.00 metres of 1.14 g/t gold in the Yuma Zone; and 40.80 metres of 1.00 g/t gold in the Bear-Rimini Discovery Zone. These wide gold zones project to the near-surface in all locations.
Gold mineralization at the Yuma Zone has been extended from the near-surface to 480 metres vertical depth, and remains open to extension.
Fully funded with more than $18m in cash, Great Bear plans to drill along approximately 18 kilometres of the strike length of the LP Fault target between now and summer 2020. A labeled section grid is provided in Figure 1.
Reconnaissance drilling will include up to one kilometre step-outs between drill sections, with more closely-spaced follow-up drilling around any new gold discoveries that may be made. Current drill spacing is shown three dimensionally in Figure 2.
Gold mineralization associated with the LP Fault is not typical of the Red Lake district. Early observations suggest that gold is associated with a large-scale deformation zone near the contact between sediments and felsic volcanics. Accessory minerals include pyrite, sphalerite, and galena with minor chalcopyrite and arsenopyrite. Elevated lead, silver and zinc values are observed within higher grade gold intercepts.
The LP Fault deformation zone is similar in character to other large gold-hosting deformation zones in Archean greenstone belts. Well-known Canadian examples include the Larder Lake Cadillac Break that extends through Kirkland Lake and Val D'Or, the Porcupine Destor Fault Zone of the Timmins Camp, the Detour Lake Fault Zone, the Pike Fault in the Meliadine camp of Nunavut, and the Cochenour-Gullrock deformation zone of the Red Lake Mine complex.
Chris Taylor, President and CEO of Great Bear said, "Our first month of reconnaissance drilling along the LP Fault has been highly successful. To place the scope of our program in context, the combined strike length of significant mine properties in the Red Lake district from the Starratt-Olsen deposit in the southwest, through the central Red Lake Mine Complex, to the Phoenix deposit in the North, is approximately 23 kilometres. This is roughly the same as the strike length as the LP Fault target at Dixie. While the total extent of gold mineralization along the LP Fault is unknown, we have now confirmed gold in all drill holes that intersected the fault along 3.2 kilometres, and will continue aggressive step-out and step-down drilling until we find the system's limits. We plan to have drilled along most of the LP structure by this time next year, and, are already fully funded for this work."
John Robins, Advisor to Great Bear said, "Great Bear's recent discoveries south of Red Lake appear to have the hallmarks of an emerging district-scale gold camp."
A key observation from recent drilling along the LP Fault is that the alteration zone within sedimentary and felsic volcanic rocks which hosts disseminated gold mineralization attains significant widths of up to up to 300 metres of core length where drilled to-date. The mineralized system continues from the near-surface to over 500 metres depth (the extent of current drilling), and is open to extension. This is shown on the drill sections in this news release.
Gold-bearing zones are in turn surrounded by broad halos of typically barren sericite alteration. This is also observed at other major Archean greenstone mesothermal/structural gold camps across Canada.
The LP Fault gold mineralization system is clearly not typical of the Red Lake district. High-grade gold in quartz veins, hosted by mafic volcanic units characterizes most of the major gold deposits in Red Lake, and is also observed at Great Bear's Hinge and Dixie Limb gold discoveries, located less than one kilometre from the LP Fault.