Transition Metals (XTM-V) starts mapping, sampling at Itchen
Aug 15, 2013 - News Release
Transition Metals Corp., which recently announced completion of its business combination with HTX Minerals Corp. (see press release Aug. 14, 2013) subject to final approval of the TSX Venture Exchange, has provided an exploration update on the Itchen Lake gold property. The 198-square-kilometre property is located approximately 365 kilometres northeast of Yellowknife along the Nunavut-Northwest Territories border, and 60 kilometres west of the past-producing Lupin gold deposit (3.36 million ounces of 9.3 grams per tonne). HTX, now a wholly owned subsidiary of Transition, has completed a VTEM airborne electromagnetic and magnetic survey, initiated a remote predictive mapping research project, compiled past exploration and drilling results, and is following this up with a field mapping, ground verification and sampling program in August. Preliminary results are expected this fall. "The large number of high-grade gold occurrences in a favourable geological environment, in relatively close proximity to a major past-producer, make this an attractive property," said Scott McLean, PGeo, president and chief executive officer of Transition. "With new geophysical data, and detailed geological and structural mapping, we expect to be able to identify new targets for drilling. The prospect of future road access through the property further adds to its attractiveness."
Itchen Lake property overview
The Itchen Lake property is a gold exploration opportunity that was staked in 2012 and is 50/50 owned with Nunavut Resources Corp. (NRC), HTX's alliance partner for mineral exploration and project generation in the Kitikmeot region of western Nunavut. NRC is a private, Inuit-owned resources company that strategically invests in major resource and infrastructure projects in Nunavut. The alliance is actively developing and advancing projects in Nunavut, and seeks joint venture partners to help further advance these projects.
Historical exploration on the Itchen property between 1960 and 1993 by previous operators, including Canico and Echo Bay Mines, resulted in the identification of 74 gold occurrences within banded iron formation (BIF) along about a 40-kilometre strike length that is geologically similar to that found at Lupin. Sixty-six drill holes are reported to have been completed on the property; however, to date, detailed information has been located for only 19 of them. Highlights of this past work include:
- R61 showing: 200 metres long and up to 4.2 metres wide, with 13 historic grab samples containing gold values ranging from 2.4 grams per tonne to 42.9 g/t;
- R87 showing: 12 historic grab samples returned gold values ranging from 3.6 g/t to 75.7 g/t;
- Hole 88-19 drilled on the R87 showing intersected 2.8 m grading 11.9 g/t gold.
In 2012, HTX completed two sampling programs on a number of the known occurrences to validate previous assay results. This work confirmed the presence of anomalous to high-grade Au mineralization over an estimated strike length of 11 km. The best assay results obtained from the 102 grab samples collected during the 2012 program are from R61, which range from 0.09 g/t to 59.00 g/t gold. The mineralization is hosted within a linear to tightly folded sulphide-bearing BIF of the Contwoyto formation that can vary from less than one metre up to 50 m in width.
A National Instrument 43-101 report for Itchen Lake is available from Transition on SEDAR (May 30, 2013, "Other documents," 9,462 kilobytes).
Infrastructure
Although remote, access to the Itchen Lake property could improve dramatically if MMG Resources Inc. moves ahead with its Izok Corridor project. MMG is currently completing a definitive feasibility study that includes the construction of a 325-kilometre, all-weather road to connect the proposed Izok zinc-copper mine to a new port at Grays Bay, along the Coronation Gulf. The currently proposed route for the road passes through the Itchen property and could significantly improve the economics of any future resource development at Itchen, provided that an agreement can be reached to allow third party access.
2013 exploration program
A 799-line-kilometre VTEM airborne electromagnetic and magnetic survey covering the property was flown in May, 2013. More than 60 moderate-to-high-conductivity anomalies have been identified, and a number of these are located along the same geologic trends as known gold occurrences. Compilation of available drill hole data (previous operators drilled approximately 80 holes on the property from 1963 to 1995) has been completed, and field mapping, sampling and investigation of anomalies are under way in August. The results will be compiled to identify prospective targets for a subsequent drill program.
Predictive mapping research project
The immense size of Nunavut and the relative lack of good, detailed geoscience information across much of this area have prompted the alliance to initiate a one-year remote predictive mapping (RPM) research project. RPM entails the compilation and interpretation of geoscience data from a variety of sources, including satellites, and geophysical and geochemical surveys, to produce predictive maps containing structural, lithologic, geophysical and surficial information for geologists in support of field activities. The resulting maps can also serve as a first-order geologic map in areas where field mapping has not been previously completed and is not readily feasible or economically viable.
"If we're able to develop a consistent RPM methodology, it could dramatically accelerate our interpretation process, and allow us to more efficiently and effectively identify areas for more detailed follow-up, as part of our project generation efforts," noted Kevin Stevens, PGeo, chief geophysicist at Transition Metals.
RPM techniques developed by geoscientists for other regions have been demonstrated to be highly effective at mapping to scales as large as one to 50,000. This research project will evaluate to what extent the RPM approach can be utilized to achieve more detailed mapping. In the process, various data sources, combinations and processes will be considered with the goal to define workflows that can be reproduced in other areas as the alliance continues exploration efforts across Nunavut.
The project is jointly financed by the NRC-HTX alliance and LOOKNorth (Leading Operational Observations and Knowledge for the North), a national Centre of Excellence for Commercialization and Research hosted by C-Core, in St. John's, Nfld. LOOKNorth, in collaboration with a broad network of industry, Northern, business and research partners, validates and drives commercialization of monitoring technologies to support safe and sustainable development of Canada's Northern natural resources.
Qualified person
The technical elements of this press release have been approved by Kevin Stevens, PGeo (APGO), a qualified person under National Instrument 43-101.
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