Inco takes low key approach to Seven Mile High discovery

The exploration department at Inco Gold is calling it a good exploration bet which it plans to follow up on.

But results from a small group of claims located just 10 miles south of Penticton, B.C., suggest that the Inco Ltd. (TSE) subsidiary and partner Seven Mile High Resources (VSE) are working on much more than just a routine exploration play.

As indicated by recent results from the Vault claim, a deep deposit is contained on a 1,700-ha property which straddles the main route from Penticton to a small village called Okanagan Falls.

The Vault claim was optioned by both Riocanex Inc. and Dome Exploration before it became the principal asset of Seven Mile High Resources when the company announced its first public offering in July, 1985.

After spending $400,000 to earn a 60% interest, Inco Gold is currently in the later stages of a $1.1- million phase II program which is scheduled to wind up next month.

Initial results from a 7,203-m (18-hole) program have been so encouraging that Seven Mile President Maurice Hamelin said the partners will be able to announce a preliminary reserve estimate fairly soon.

However, Dick Worsfold, Inco Gold’s exploration director, cautioned that it is still too early to start giving tonnage figures.

The latest results include 18 ft of grade 0.15 oz gold and 0.31 oz silver per ton at a depth of 1,430-ft in hole 7,2440 and 10.2 ft of grade 0.10 oz gold and 0.15 oz silver at the 1,460-ft level.

“All holes were drilled from north to south to test the main structure where gold values are present in quartz veins cutting silicified pyroclastics of the Eoceme Lower Marama formation,” said Hamelin.

They all intersected the silicified and quartz veined pyroclastic unit several times as they went through a series of down-faulted blocks, he told The Northern Miner.

Some of the best results from the Phase II program are as follows: Hole No. Width Gold/ton Silver/ton 72401 18.4 ft 0.17 oz 0.38 oz

4.3 ft 0.64 oz 1.33 oz 72408 42.4 ft 0.23 oz 0.45 oz 72422 44.1 ft 0.29 oz 0.37 oz

28.9 ft 0.44 oz 0.52 oz 72434 66.7 ft 0.18 oz 0.32 oz 72442 49.0 ft 0.22 oz 0.56 oz

“We are on the verge of developing something serious,” said Hamelin who financed Seven Mile’s 40% interest in the joint venture by dealing 400,000 shares to Inco Gold at $1.50 per share. Inco also has additional options on 200,00 Seven Mile shares at $1.75 for one year and a further 200,000 at $2. Seven Mile has 2.7 million shares outstanding.

According to Hamelin, the Okanagan Falls deposit may by part of the same structure which supported the old Dusty Mac gold mine. Other companies at work in the immediate area include Lacana Mining (TSE) and Energex Minerals (TSE).

“We are encouraged by the results from Vault otherwise we wouldn’t still be on the property,” said Worsfold.