Download - Society of Economic Geologists

28 SEG NEWSLETTER No 65 • APRIL 2006... from 27Exploration Reviews (Continued)EXPLORATION REVIEWSproduction by the end of 2006, miningtenders and construction contracts arecurrently being let. In Otago, Frasersunderground project is expected to commencecutting a new portal in April2006.A joint venture between GreatAustralian Resources and SouthwestExploration completed 501 m of RCdrilling in 22 holes in the Arethusamesothermal gold prospect of theLongwood Range in Southland. Bestreported result was 3 m @ 1.61 g/t Aufrom surface in hole ARAC002.PAPUA NEW GUINEAThe truism that sovereign risk isinversely proportional to metal prices isreflected by increasing explorationinvestment in Papua New Guinea andmore confidence in the regulatory andfiscal policies of the PNG government.The Yandera copper-molybdenumprospect is back in the news with Perthbasedexplorer Marengo Mining buyingout its join-venture partner for acash and script offer of AUD$6 M.Yandera has been intermittentlyexplored by a number of major companiessince the 1960s, including BHP,Kennecott, and Phelps Dodge. Marengois aiming to establish a resource ofaround 100 Mt at 1% copper equiv.Allied Gold reported a resource ofabout 17.1 Mt @ 1.3 g/t Au for 712,000oz Au at the Simberi gold deposit in theTabar Island Group west of Lihir Island.Optimization studies suggest mining75,000 oz/yr over a mine life of 7.8years with operating costs of aroundUS$256/oz. Total capital cost estimatefor the project is around $44 M. Themost recently reported explorationdrilling results from the Sorowarprospect include 10 m at 29.9 g/t Aufrom 73 m.Following the election of a newautonomous government in 2005 therehave been reports of recent meetingsbetween Bougainville Copper and thePNG government discussing the possibleresurrection of the Panguna Cu-Aumine which contains a resource ofaround 625 Mt @ 0.4% Cu and 0.4 g/tgold. Previous cost estimates at restartingthe Panguna operation have beenput at more than AUD $1 billion. Therehas been a moratorium on any form ofexploration on Bougainville Islandsince the closure of the mine in 1989.In the waters of PNG, Placer DomeInc., through its subsidiary PlacerDome Oceania Ltd, completed a majordrilling program at the Suzette prospectin the Eastern Manus basin ~100 kmnorth of Rabaul, where high-grade Cu-Au sea-floor massive sulfide depositswere discovered in the early 1990s by ajoint CSIRO-University of Torontoexpedition. Ltd. details of this pioneeringwork have been provided by Placer’sjoint-venture partner, NautilusMinerals, which pegged the ground in1997. Placer Dome has committed tospend US$7 M by April 2006 to earn a40% interest in all deposits with at least3 g/t Au, with rights to earn a further35%. Under the terms of the farm-inagreement, Nautilus retains the exclusiveright to any rich Cu-Zn depositswith less than 3 g/t Au. Drill sampleshave been sent for assay.CANADARegional Correspondent:T.G. (Tom) Schroeter (SEG 1988 F)300-865 Hornby StreetVancouver, British ColumbiaCanada V6Z 2G3Tel. 1.604.660.2812E-mail: Tom.Schroeter@gov.bc.caWith contributions fromMonique Lavergne – ManitobaRoss Sherlock (SEG 1989 F) –Nunavut and NWTDaniel E. Jiricka (SEG 2000) – SaskatchewanMANITOBAExploration expenditures in Manitobaare expected to exceed $53 M for 2005,a 47% increase in spending from 2004.The bullish sentiment for nickel hasrestored interest in former producingproperties and camps in Manitoba.Inco announced in August that it willspend $45 M to develop the 1-D Lowerorebody in Thompson. Inco also continuesto search for new ore sources inthe prolific Thompson Nickel Belt (TNB)and in 2005 spent approximately $6.5M for in-mine and surface exploration.In addition, Inco has joint-venture partnershipsin place with CanadianRoyalties on the TNB South projectand with Nuinsco Resources on theMel project. Crowflight Minerals conductedan extensive winter drill campaignin the Thompson and Wabowdenareas on their large portfolio of propertiesunder option from Falconbridge. Afeasibility study on the Bucko deposit atWabowden determined an indicatedresource of 1.8 M tonnes (t) of 2.1% Ni.A summer surface in-fill drill programincreased Bucko’s indicated resourcebase by 300,000 t. Seymour Explorationis exploring on mineral leaseswhich cover the past-producing LynnLake nickel mine. A recent independentresource calculation confirmed that theproperty contains measured and indicatedresources of 5.8 Mt grading 0.85%Ni and 0.39% Cu, remaining in-situ.In southeast Manitoba, MustangMinerals’ Maskwa nickel deposit containsan indicated open-pit and undergroundresource of 6.0 Mt grading0.74% Ni and 0.15% Cu. In 2005,Mustang discovered a wide zone ofnickel-copper mineralization at theirnearby Mayville property, with intervalssuch as 33.6 m grading 1.06% Cuand 0.50% Ni, within 61 m of slightlylower-grade sulfides. Lac des Iles Mines(LDI) entered an agreement to earn a50% interest in Gossan Resources’ BirdRiver property. The project covers 21km of the Bird River Sill, which containsconcentrations of PGEs, nickel, copper,zinc, and chromite.In the Flin Flon-Snow Lake area,Hudbay Minerals (formerly OntZincCorporation) acquired Hudson BayMining and Smelting from AngloAmerican in late 2004. In February,Hudbay announced that they wouldspend $10 M on exploration in the FlinFlon greenstone belt.Bema Gold and Wolfden Resourcescompleted 70 holes during winter andsummer/fall drilling at theirMonument Bay property in northeastManitoba. Inferred resources atMonument currently (not including2005 drill results) stand at 1.07 Mt grading15.36 g/t Au, using an 8 g/t cutoff.Claude Resources and partner PioneerMetals conducted drilling to test thestrike potential of the Nokomis Lakegold zone near Sherridon. Claude wasalso conducting work at the former producingTartan Lake gold mine nearFlin Flon. Drilling completed by BlackPearl Minerals defined new high-gradegold shoots at the Gold Dust andMcCafferty zones at Wekusko Lake. AtGold Dust, two shoots were discovered,returning values up to 17.4 g/t Au over4.5 m; a new shoot discovered at