Premier Gold Mines has entered into separate option agreements with Goldcorp and Kinross Gold to acquire prospective exploration projects in Nevada and Mexico.
The agreement with Kinross grants Premier the right to earn a 50% interest in the Goldbanks project in Pershing County, Nevada, 50 kilometers (km) south of Winnemucca. The project is comprised of 875 claims totaling approximately 16,000 acres. Significant targets include the high-grade Golden Devil discovery and the Main Zone and KW open-pit deposits. The Golden Devil discovery is the primary target, where drilling has already begun to test a high-grade epithermal vein discovery beneath known low-grade, near-surface deposits.
The agreement with Goldcorp allows Premier to acquire up to a 100% interest in the Alto-Cristina project in southwest Chihuahua state, Mexico, by making payments of $1.5 million on each of the date of execution of the agreement, on the 12-month anniversary date, and on completion of a resource estimate on the property. A final payment of $2.5 million is required at commercial production.
A drill has been mobilized to test the Alto/Bajo vein structure, with initial results expected by year-end 2016. Previous drilling intersected high-grade poly-metallic mineralization proximal to a strong soil anomaly.
Wallbridge Mining has initiated exploration on the previously mined Fenelon gold property 75 km west-northwest of the city of Matagami in west-central Quebec. Wallbridge acquired the property in October. An initial estimated measured and indicated mineral resource in close proximity to the existing mine workings stands at 91,100 metric tons (mt) grading 12.97 g/mt gold.
Work-to-date has identified opportunities to expand this resource near existing underground infrastructure through re-sampling of old core and drilling to follow up high-grade gold intersections and mineralized zones that are not included in the current resource. Opportunities also exist to extend mineralization at depth by drilling down-plunge of the current resource, which only extends to 100 m below surface, and following-up deeper mineralized intersections.
Potential also exists to discover new near-surface gold mineralization by drilling geophysical targets and following-up mineralized intersections identified along strike on the property, which is open for several kilometers on either side of the current resource.
Targets identified by this early work will be drill-tested, with priority given to targets in close proximity to the mine workings.
Perth Core Library: An A$7.3 million expansion of the Perth Core Library in Western Australia was officially opened in early November by the state’s Mines and Petroleum Minister Sean L’Estrange. The facility stores drill core samples that can be studied by researchers and explorers seeking new petroleum and mineral discoveries. The core library storage area has been increased by 3,500 m2, and the number of pallets that can be stored has been increased from 8,640 to more than 15,000.
The core library also has a new covered viewing area that provides confidentiality, a dedicated temperature-controlled area to house the Hylogger spectral scanner used to analyze drill core, and a conference room. The library has experienced a 300% increase in viewing of core samples over the past 10 years. The added capacity and space will reduce waiting times and make it easier to access the core samples.
“The core library promotes the prospectivity of Western Australia and encourages research and more targeted, lower-cost exploration for resources,” L’Estrange said.
