Dec 18 2014
Eastmain Resources Inc. announces an update on the drill program underway at its wholly-owned Clearwater Project, located in James Bay, Quebec. 17 drill holes have been completed totaling 4,690 metres, in the Clovis Lake area, located three kilometres east of the Eau Claire gold deposit. The objectives of the program are to search for a second gold deposit in close proximity to Eau Claire.
Quartz-tourmaline veins and altered rock have been intersected in each of the drill holes, and visible gold was observed in two holes; ER14-540 at a depth of 183.3 metres and ER14-551 at a depth of 102.6 metres. ER14-543 intersected an 11.3-metre interval of quartz-tourmaline vein and alteration at a depth of 67.4 metres. Drill hole ER14-548 intersected 46 quartz-tourmaline veins ranging in width from 0.1 to 2.7 metres within a 52-metre-thick package of altered rock starting at a depth of 88 metres (see website for photos and figures). Assays are pending.
A 5,000-metre drill program planned to assess multiple rock anomalies, defined by surface trenching and prospecting, is currently testing a number of targets north and south of Clovis Lake. This area of interest, where previous prospecting and trenching exposed gold-bearing, quartz-tourmaline veins and alteration zones, similar to those at the Eau Claire Gold deposit, coincides with a linear magnetic high, an Induced Polarization (IP) chargeability high and a resistivity low.
Eau Claire Deposit Wire Framing
SRK Consulting has completed wire framing of the high-grade (HG) and low-grade (LG) gold domains for the 450 West Zone (see website for figures) and has started the process of wire framing the 850 West Zone.
450 West Zone
Using Eastmain's geological interpretation, approximately 100 high-grade wire frame meshes, which will form the basis of the Block Model Resource Estimate, have been created. High-grade meshes were built where there is high confidence of lateral and vertical continuity of gold mineralization.
Geological modeling of the deposit has delineated three orientations of high-grade gold domains. A well-defined east-west vein system appears to cross cut a series of NW-SE trending schist zones, while a west-northwest-trending gold-bearing domain (S - NW1) has been traced laterally across the 450 West Zone for approximately 800 metres (see website for figures).
Three or more high-grade, gold-bearing schist zones (HG - S1, S2 and S3) have been defined. These schist zones consist of wide zones of altered gold-bearing rock, which are aligned parallel to the host rock foliation, and follow the contour of a felsic porphyry dyke swarm located on the southern or hanging wall side of the deposit. These HG schist zones have been subsequently crosscut by east-west trending, high-grade, gold-bearing quartz-tourmaline laminated and piano key breccia veins.
Over 50 low-grade domain meshes have also been created across the 450 West Zone, where the distribution of gold mineralization is either less well defined or the orientation less certain. LG meshes also enclose broad envelopes of low-grade gold mineralization. The HG and LG wire frame interpretation will be used as resource domains to constrain the mineral resource model.
Next Steps
Once wire frames have been validated for the 450 and 850 West Zones, SRK will conduct a statistical analysis of each of the resource domains. The spatial continuity and other variable attributes of gold and other parameters will be evaluated using complex geostatistical methods to assist with resource classification parameters.
A block model will then be constructed using estimated gold values for each block. Upon validation, the block model will be classified according to CIM Standards on Mineral Resources and Reserves. A pit optimizer will be utilized to evaluate which portion of Eau Claire gold mineralization has reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction from an open pit mine and thereby could be reported as an open pit mineral resource. Optimization parameters such as metal price, exchange rate, mining and processing rates and costs, metal recovery and reporting cut-off grades will be selected. Those portions of the block model not amenable for open pit extraction will also be evaluated for reporting as an underground mineral resource.
QP and Quality Control
Dr. Donald J. Robinson P. Geo, President and Chief Executive Officer of Eastmain, Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101 reviewed and approved the scientific and technical data presented in this press release. Dr. Robinson has supervised the work programs on the Company's properties, visited the properties on multiple occasions, examined outcrops, drill core and trenched areas, reviewed results with on-site geological staff and reviewed both the analytical and quality control results.
Eastmain conducts a quality control program for all of its exploration work, to ensure best practices in the industry from sample shipment and preparation to data collection and analyses.