Northfield, Rockford plan $4-m Larder Lake program

The two companies currently hold a 31.5% stake in the 52-claim property which lies west of Armistice Resources’ (ME) Virginiatown gold project and consists of the former Cheminis and Fernland gold mines.

As soon as the companies have secured Golden Shield Resources’ 68.5% interest in Larder Lake, Rockford President Robert Cudney will attempt to find a major mining company willing to finance a $4- million exploration program.

Under an agreement with GSR Acquisitions, Northfield and Rockford are scheduled to purchase Golden Shield’s interest on Dec 14, while assuming responsibility for a debt of $2.5 million owed by Golden Shield to Dynatec Mining.

Dynatec has agreed to convert the $2.5 million lien into shares of Northfield representing a 32% interest. Northfield’s other two major shareholders are Northfield Capital (COATS) and the Vancouver-based Equity Group which own 32% and 24% respectively.

Once the agreement is signed, Northfield will have 78.5% of Larder Lake with the remaining 21.5% being held by Rockford.

According to Cudney, exploration will focus on the Cheminis mine which contains probable reserves to the 875-ft level of 365,000 tons grading 0.16 oz gold per ton. Those reserves are contained in the A, B, and C zones.

Northfield, which believes that possible reserves of about 1.5-2 million tons of grade 0.15 oz lie in the D zone beneath the 875-ft level, is planning an extensive underground program for that area.

It could include 80,000 ft of diamond drilling, an extension of the existing shaft from 875 ft to 1,000 ft and about 3,000 ft of drifting.

“This work should give us greater confidence in the reserves in other areas (including the North Carbonate zone),” Northfield Secretary-Treasurer Tom Pladsen told The Northern Miner.

Meanwhile Dynatec is compiling data on the A, B, and C zones to determine what kind of mining operation could be sustained by reserves above the 875-ft level.

“We could start producing at a rate of about 300 tons per day,” said Pladsen who expects exploration work at Larder Lake to resume after Jan 1.

In other news, Pladsen says Rockford’s takeover bid for Tyranex Gold (COATS) is no longer contingent on 75% of Tyranex shares being tendered. With a preliminary commitment from some directors’ 27%, Rockford is hoping to secure about 50% of the company’s outstanding shares.

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