Drill hole LAF-16-38 intersected a new Ni-Cu-PGE zone with disseminated, locally semi-massive and net-textured mineralization grading 0.45% Ni, 0.35% Cu, 0.15 g/t Pt and 0.24 g/t Pd over 42.60 metres from 446.50 to 489.10 metres depth. Within this wide mineralized envelope, two zones with higher nickel and copper grades respectively yielded 1.11% Ni, 0.47% Cu, 0.21 g/t Pt and 0.79 g/t Pd over 3.50 metres from 449.00 to 452.50 metres, and 0.44% Ni, 0.88% Cu, 0.21 g/t Pt and 0.27 g/t Pd over 4.05 metres from 458.95 to 463.00 metres. The mineralization is hosted in ultramafic intrusive rocks that contain variable amounts of pyrrhotite (“PO”), pentlandite (“PN”), and chalcopyrite (“CP”), mainly occurring as disseminations but locally forming semi-massive and net-textured zones.
See the tabular data for the drill hole here.
This new mineralized zone, named “Copernick“, was intersected at a vertical depth of 425 metres and remains wide open along strike and potentially down-plunge toward the northeast. Following a borehole electromagnetic (« BHEM ») survey conducted in the discovery hole, which identified a conductor located below and to the east of drill hole LAF-16-38, a new 5,000-metre drilling campaign was undertaken.
The first drill hole of the campaign, LAF-16-39, was recently drilled about 175 metres below the mineralized zone intersected in hole LAF-16-38 and encountered strongly serpentinized ultramafic rocks over more than 100 metres core length. These strongly altered ultramafic rocks locally contain disseminated sulphides (PO-CP); assay results are pending. A BHEM survey conducted in this drill hole identified a strong off-hole conductor for which a geophysical model is in progress. In parallel with this modelling, a new drill hole (LAF-16-40) is currently under way to test the Copernick zone at a distance of 50 metres above hole LAF-16-38.
The discovery hole LAF-16-38 was drilled to follow up on a near off-hole BHEM anomaly that was detected in drill hole LA-11-08EXT and recently repositioned more accurately with further surveying. The new Copernick zone is different from the one that was intersected in drill hole LA-11-08, in which a near-surface zone, from 90.6 to 98.6 metres depth, graded 0.66% Ni, 0.35% Cu, 0.17 g/t Pt and 0.16 g/t Pd over 8.0 metres, including a higher-grade interval at 1.55% Ni, 0.53% Cu, 0.26 g/t Pt and 0.28 g/t Pd over 1.6 metres from 91.1 to 92.7 metres (see press release by Midland dated June 15, 2011). In addition to the two different mineralized zones intersected in drill holes LA-11-08 and LAF-16-38, two new strong off-hole conductors were detected in drill holes LAF-16-38 and LAF-16-39. Geophysical modelling is currently underway in order to plan the next drill hole that will test these conductors.
The ultramafic rocks that host this new discovery are part of a folded mafic to ultramafic intrusive complex extending for more than 10 kilometres in length, thus opening up excellent potential for further discoveries of magmatic Ni-Cu-PGE occurrences. A ground magnetic survey and an Orevision-type induced polarization survey (6.0 km) are currently underway to cover the immediate extensions of the Copernick zone, where weak VTEM-type conductors were identified near surface along the lateral extensions.
The Laflamme property covers more than 50 kilometres of prospective stratigraphy and structures for the discovery of orogenic gold, volcanogenic massive sulphides (Cu-Zn), and magmatic Ni-Cu-PGE deposits associated with ultramafic rocks. This property was initially acquired in 2008 based on the presence of major gold, copper and zinc anomalies in tills that were identified during the Octave project, jointly led by the Ministère des Ressources naturelles et de la Faune (MRNF) and the Geological Survey of Canada (GSC).