Terrax Minerals (TXR-V) starts 6,000 m drilling at Yellowknife City
March 25, 2014 - NR
The first drill hole was collared on the Northbelt property of the Yellowknife City gold project. Northbelt is the strike extension of the geology which hosted the previously producing Con and Giant gold mines, which together mined over 13 million ounces of gold. This marks the first drilling on the Northbelt since 1996, a period of 18 years.Terrax's first drill campaign will total approximately 6,000 metres of drilling and test three initial target areas, the Barney shear, which is the extension of the Con/Giant shear system, the Crestaurum zone, which is a high-grade zone with nearly 200 historical drill intersections and the Homer Lake base metal/precious metal target at the north end of the property. The first drill hole will be collared at Homer Lake to target a buried conductor identified by airborne surveys in 2013 that has never been drill tested. This target area is within 500 metres of a previously established ice road which makes winter access easier and with much less environmental impact than overland access in summer conditions. Terrax expects to be able to take advantage of six to eight weeks of ice road use before spring breakup. Although Crestaurum and the Barney shear are currently Terrax's highest-priority gold targets, the logistics associated with Homer Lake access dictate that it be drilled first.
Homer Lake is not a traditional gold target as would be expected in a major gold belt like the Yellowknife gold camp. It was originally discovered from surface prospecting in the 1930s and six mineralized structures were delineated during reconnaissance prospecting by Terrax in the Homer Lake area in 2013. One structure has been traced by Terrax for 1,200 metres and has chip sample results of seven metres at 0.5 gram per tonne gold, 90.2 grams per tonne silver, 4.25 per cent lead and 0.89 per cent zinc. A parallel structure sampled by Terrax graded five metres at 1.54 grams per tonne gold, 95.5 grams per tonne silver, 3.13 per cent lead and 1.59 per cent zinc. A grab sample by Terrax from a third structure graded 0.6 gram per tonne gold, 529 grams per tonne silver, greater than 20 per cent silver and 9.44 per cent zinc. Historical reports of drilling on another structure included 6.1 metres of 2.54 grams per tonne gold, 204 grams per tonne silver, 10.82 per cent lead, 6.03 per cent zinc and 0.55 per cent copper in hole 38-02; this intersection was less than 50 metres below surface. (This drill result is historical in nature, has not been verified by Terrax and should not be relied upon.)
In July, 2013, Terrax carried out an airborne electromagnetic (EM) survey which revealed a 1.2-kilometre-long, north-trending conductor at the Homer Lake target, 400 metres of which is highly conductive. The source of this conductor is buried and 3-D modelling indicates a top of the conductor at approximately 110 metres below surface, with a steep westerly dip. None of the known surface mineralized zones mentioned above were conductive in the 2013 EM survey, and the buried conductor has never been tested by drilling. This conductor will be the target of this initial 750-metre drill program planned at Homer Lake, following which the drill rig will be moved to the south end of the property to commence drilling at Barney and Crestaurum, where Terrax reported assay results from relogging and sampling of core from historical drill holes that included 28.32 metres at 2.97 grams per tonne gold on the Barney shear zone (news release of Aug. 14, 2013), and five metres at 62.9 grams per tonne gold from Crestaurum (news release of Oct. 2, 2013).
Terrax will be providing updates on activities in the coming months as it carries out its advanced exploration plans. All users of the trails, mining roads and ice roads are reminded to act safely and responsibly, and keep an eye out for other recreational, traditional and industrial users and hazards.
About the Yellowknife City gold project
The Yellowknife City gold project encompasses approximately 8,400 hectares of contiguous land immediately north of the city of Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories, and includes Terrax's wholly owned Northbelt property acquired in February, 2013.
The Northbelt gold property encompasses 3,562 hectares on the prolific Yellowknife belt, all within 15 kilometres of the city of Yellowknife, and covers 13 kilometres of strike on the northern extension of the geology that contained the Giant (7.8 million ounces) and Con (5.5 million ounces) gold mines. The Northbelt property is host to multiple shears that are the recognized hosts for gold deposits in the Yellowknife camp, and it contains innumerable gold showings and historic high-grade drill results.
Terrax has carried out a strategy of acquiring prospective ground adjacent to Northbelt, and in October, 2013, entered into an option agreement whereby it can acquire a 100-per-cent interest in the Walsh Lake gold property, which is contiguous with and immediately east of Northbelt. The Walsh Lake property consists of seven leases and five claims totalling 6,659 acres (2,695 hectares). Terrax has also staked and acquired ground to the west of Northbelt to cover prospective geology that is on strike from Northbelt structures. |
