Thunderwood plans bulk sample on Pelletier Lake gold deposit

Favorable winter drill results from the Pelletier Lake gold deposit, two miles south of Rouyn-Noranda, Que., have given operator Thunderwood Resources (TSE) the confidence it needs to plan an underground program this year. In January, Thunderwood took over as operator of the project from Falconbridge Gold (TSE) which holds a 65% stake in the 1,312-acre gold property.

A 13,900-ft. infill drilling program, completed in February, has confirmed the existence of ore- grade gold mineralization in the deposit’s main core, and provided engineering data for a proposed underground program.

The company hopes to raise $2.7-3.5 million to carry out the underground work which would include access via a ramp, drifting in the mineralized zone as well as bulk sampling to confirm gold grades. Thunderwood’s interest would then increase to 51% upon completion of the program.

“The next step is to go underground and test the grades by taking an 8,000-ton bulk sample,” said President John Heslop who has been evaluating the deposit since 1987. He is confident the necessary funding can be arranged, despite the recent depressed stock market conditions which have hit junior companies especially hard.

The company hasn’t signed a firm financing deal yet, although it is currently examining various alternatives to raise flow-through funds, either by a private placement or public share offering.

Some of the better intersections from the past winter’s drill program at Pelletier included 30.5 ft. of 0.61 oz. gold per ton in hole 207, 19.7 ft. of 0.32 oz. in hole 215, 29.5 ft. of 0.24 oz. in hole 202A, and 24.6 ft. of 0.16 oz. in hole 201A.

Encouraging gold grades (above 0.14 oz.) were intersected over minable widths in 12 of the 17 recent holes drilled into the core of the deposit.

Located partly under the waters of Pelletier Lake, the gold zone has a shallow dip of roughly 30-40 degrees , Heslop said. That means the recent intersections do not represent true widths. The average thickness of the gold-bearing zone is about 14 ft. with individual intersections ranging up to 30-40 ft.

Mining a relatively flat zone can sometimes present problems, he added, but the fact that the zone is quite wide in places offers some encouragement.

“We don’t see much coarse visible gold in the zone,” he explained, noting that most of the gold is very fine in size and is associated with pyrite. Preliminary metallurgical tests have shown good recoveries up to 95%, he said.

Based on about 80,000 ft. of drilling in 112 holes, the deposit is estimated to contain preliminary reserves of 973,000 tons grading 0.20 oz., including 540,000 tons averaging 0.29 oz.