MetalCORP has announced results from a Titan 24 Geophysical Survey on its 100% owned BL14 copper-zinc deposit located on the Big Lake property 10 km southeast of Marathon and 10 km southwest of the Hemlo gold mines, Ontario. The program, carried out by Quantec Geoscience, was designed to penetrate deeper than conventional surveys and therefore beyond the depths of drilling completed to date on the BL14 VMS deposit. The Titan 24 system records three different types of geophysical information called DC (resistivity), IP (chargeability) and MT (magnetotelluric resistivity) with the benefits of multi-parameter data and increased data accuracy and density. A total of “21 high priority” geophysical targets were identified by Quantec and are now being interpreted in the context of geology and structure to allow for drilling at a later date.
“The results from Titan 24 geophysical survey have helped locate several drill targets, including a very important anomaly down-plunge from the known Cu-Zn deposit. Given the discovery of two massive sulphide Cu-Zn lenses to date, the prospects for locating others remains very good,” commented Aubrey Eveleigh, Vice President Exploration and Chief Operating Officer. “The latest geophysical results on the Big Lake property have not only provided evidence of the possible continuity of the BL14 Cu-Zn deposit, but will also help in resolving managements understanding of the detailed geology of the deposit. Significantly, this latest program shows the BL14 Cu-Zn zone to have considerable potential for expansion.”
The BL14 discovery drill hole intersected 4.0 m of high grade mineralisation assaying 7.5% Cu, 2.2% Zn, 138.0 g/t Ag and 9.2 g/t Au. To date, MetalCORP has identified two high grade copper-zinc massive sulphide lenses with associated stringer mineralisation measuring 300 m in strike length by 250 m deep and approximately 3 m wide. Volcanogenic Massive Sulphide (VMS) type deposits (lenses) tend to occur in clusters of ten or more as noted from the base metal mining camps of Canada and the rest of the World. The average size of a typical VMS copper-zinc deposit in the world is approximately 10 Mt.
The BL14 Zone displays many characteristics of a VMS mineralising zone but with unusually high grade copper, silver, gold and cobalt content. The zone resembles a high temperature Cu-Ag-Au rich VMS stringer or feeder zone. The footwall to the BL14 mineralised zone is composed of strongly chloritised and biotitised metavolcanics. All holes have intersected varying amounts of chalcopyrite, sphalerite and pyrrhotite hosted by an intensely hydrothermally altered package of mafic metavolcanic rocks and associated interflow clastic metasedimentary rocks with deformed bands of chert.