Int’l Taurus begins work in Casa Berardi

Field work has begun on several of the 20 properties being managed by International Taurus Resources (ITS-V) in the Casa Berardi area of northwestern Quebec.

Until recently, the properties were, for the most part, held by the Canadian subsidiary of Cyprus Amax Minerals (CYM-N). Taurus can earn a 100% interest in Cyprus’s share in the properties by paying US$750,000 and delivering 1.2 million shares over three years. The initial payment will be US$50,000 and 20,000 shares. Cyprus retains a 51% back-in right to the property base.

Chief among the properties is Fenelon A, now controlled 70% by Fairstar Explorations (FFR-T) and 30% by Taurus through its agreement with Cyprus. In 1997, Fenelon was the site of a positive prefeasibility study by Fairstar that identified an indicated resource of 252,000 tonnes grading 14.2 grams gold per tonne. The study concluded that about half the resource could be mined by open pit.

Gold-chalcopyrite mineralization is associated with a complex assemblage of ultramafic-to-mafic volcanic rocks and quartz porphyry intrusives. Pervasive carbonate alteration is common throughout the deposit.

The deposit is 30 km northeast of the Selbaie mine access road, and Fairstar is currently developing a road to the Fenelon A site itself in preparation for a proposed bulk-sampling program.

Meanwhile, field crews have been conducting line-cutting and ground geophysical surveys at the nearby Fenelon B property, as well as the DuTast and Subercase properties. Drill target selection is already in progress.

Taurus also intends to begin exploring the Martiniere D prospect, which was discovered last year during a winter drill program designed to test structural targets similar to those at Fenelon A and at the Detour Lake mine.

The second hole of the program intersected ultramafic-to-mafic volcanic rocks and quartz porphyry intrusives similar to these other deposits. The sixth hole of an 8-hole program intersected strong quartz-chalcopyrite mineralization grading 12.5 grams gold over a core length of 2.5 metres hosted in mafic volcanic rocks. The original structural interpretation suggests there is potentially 5 km of strike length available for testing associated with the gold intersection. In a news release, Taurus states: “This second discovery in a relatively short period of time confirms the value of the structural interpretation derived from a private airborne survey for the discovery of the Casa Berardi gold deposits.”

No additional drilling has been conducted on this new discovery, though Taurus plans to launch a winter drill program later this year.

Priority will also be given to the Northway deposit, in which Northway Explorations (NOW-T) has a 25% interest.

Northway has an indicated resource of 18.2 million tonnes grading 1.48 grams gold in several zones that are believed to be minable by open-pit methods. Initial metallurgy indicates that the higher-grade RJ zone (indicated resource: 243,000 tonnes at 7.82 grams gold), which is on strike from the Vezza deposit of Agnico-Eagle Mines, is the best target for delineation drilling.

The remainder of Taurus’s new land package consists of numerous targets over a strike length of about 50 km in the same geological environment as Detour Lake, Fenelon A and Martiniere D.

Funding for upcoming exploration will be provided through the $750,000 flow-through component of a $5.5-million financing initiated in June. In addition, Taurus has acquired Cyprus’s interest in the Casa Berardi airborne survey, a $1.5-million, 80,000-line-km, ultra-high-resolution helicopter survey held jointly with Fairstar. (It was originally flown in 1997 on behalf of Morrison Minerals.)

The survey covers more than 5,600 sq. km of the Abitibi Greenstone Belt in northern Ontario and Quebec. Owing to the 100-metre line spacing, low flight altitude and 3-metre data spacing, the survey is said to provide a unique view of structure and geology in the region.

The current geophysical survey is designed to define drill targets identified from the high-resolution airborne survey.