Hello John
When ever I hop in and out trying to time plays I inevitably miss an opportunity or get burned.
Good luck but I am going to remain conservative and simply ride this puppy to the finish line. What was the name of that horse in New Zealand that had to have its name changed?
TULSYHTLIF
Regards
PS
Morning Cup:
* South Voisey's Bay Project-1998 Exploration Update
This year will be the fourth exploration season following Diamond
Fields Resources' discovery of the Voisey's Bay Ovoid deposit in late
1994. Today the Voisey's Bay deposits have reported reserves and
indicated resources of 98.7M tonnes grading 1.85% Ni, 0.99% Cu, and
0.10% Co, for an in-ground value of US$15.0B at current spot metal
prices. This includes the Ovoid deposit containing 31.7M tonnes
grading 2.83% Ni, 1.68% Cu, and 0.12% Co. Inco Limited estimates that
the property now contains an inferred mineral resource of 116.0M
tonnes, but no average grade has been reported.
At the height of exploration activity in 1995/96, in the entire
Voisey's Bay area, 169 companies held land positions and spent
millions of dollars on geophysics, ground prospecting, and drilling.
While other companies focused their early exploration north of
Voisey's Bay, Donner Minerals put together a large land holding
covering ultimately 1,200 km2 in the South Voisey's Bay (Harp Lake)
area, located 90 km south of the Voisey's Bay deposit. Donner first
staked ground in 1995, and over the next several years added to its
position by entering into 13 joint ventures with other juniors.
Donner's geologic model was endorsed in September 1996, when Teck Corp.
bought an equity position in Donner through a private placement
comprised of 1.4M units to net $1.75M. In addition, Donner granted
Teck a 50% back-in on any of its property interests in Labrador in
consideration for Teck financing Donner's cost share of a feasibility
study and arranging Donner's cost share of future capital costs. Teck
further exercised share purchase warrants in October 1997, putting
2.8M in Donner's treasury and giving itself 10% of Donner's currently
issued shares. In addition, Donner, as operator of various exploration
programs, contracted Teck Exploration Ltd. to design and conduct the
exploration programs on behalf of Donner and its joint-venture
partners.
Exploration to date in South Voisey's Bay has outlined a northern and
southern gabbro intrusion located adjacent to the Nain-Churchill
structural break (pp.6-7). Leopard-textured, troctolite, similar to
that hosting the Vosiey's Bay deposit, has been intersected in many
holes. Donner/Teck completed 44 holes last year on six project areas
in the South Voisey's Bay area at a cost of $5.0M. The number of
holes drilled in the past two years totals 96.
Of the 50 or so Voisey's Bay-area properties that have been drilled
since 1995, none have yielded a hint of a repeat of a Voisey's Bay
deposit. We believe this changed late last season when Donner and
Northern Abitibi reported encouraging drill assays on their South
Voisey's Bay joint venture of values up to 11.75% Ni, 9.7% Cu, and
0.43% Co. More importantly, hole 97-96 returned an interval well
exceeding the 1-2 m narrow intercepts reported throughout the broad
camp, yielding 1.13% Ni, 0.78% Cu, and 0.20% Co over 15.7 m. Donner
Minerals has earned a 50% participating interest (subject to Teck's
back-in option) in the 5,728 hectares owned by Northern Abitibi.
The 1998 exploration season is set to resume, and crews are now being
mobilized. Prior to drilling, continued exploration, including
additional linecutting, mapping, and geophysics, will be initiated in
order to cover the central portion between the north and south gabbro
as well as to more clearly define the outer limits of these two
prospective geologic bodies. Drilling is anticipated to begin in late
April, weather permitting, with three rigs. To begin, two drills will
focus on follow-up work on the Northern Abitibi project while the
third will deepen several holes on the Cypress project, which failed
to reach the base of the south gabbro unit due to drill equipment
limitations. In all, the two-phased program for 1998 is budgeted at
14.7M, with $6.5M in phase one, a contingency budget for phase one of
2.6M, and a $5.6M success contingent budget for phase two.
Graeme Currie (604) 643-7405, Andrew Muir, CFA (604) 643-7008 |
