Feb 16 2011
Crocodile Gold Corp. (TSX:CRK)(OTCQX:CROCF)(FRANKFURT:XGC) has announced that it has initiated a drill program at the Crosscourse and Prospect Claim historical open pit targets located within the Union Reefs project area in the Northern Territory of Australia.
The targets are adjacent to the Union Reefs Mill and are identified extensions of mineralization of the historical open pits mined in the 1990s.
Crocodile Gold has ranked the Union Reefs project area as one of the Company's highest priority areas for the growth of mineral reserves and resources and near term production within the Company's portfolio of assets for the following reasons:
- The Union Reefs project area is located immediately adjacent to the Company's Union Reefs mill.
- Historical production in the Union Reefs area has yielded over 800,000 ounces of gold from 12 open pit operations. The potential exists for both higher grade underground targets and lower grade open pit targets.
- Most deposits in the Union Reefs area sit within an approved Mining Lease and as a result the permitting process is expedited compared with an exploration license should the decision be made to advance a deposit to production.
- Significant exploration upside exists as past exploration in the area has been limited in depth with only oxide material drilled to any extent except for the Crosscourse target.
Prospect Claim Open Pit
Within the Union Reefs project area, the only project currently with a mineral resource estimate is the Prospect Claim deposit. This mineral resource estimate is currently being reviewed and optimized.
A number of higher grade historic intercepts over significant widths have been intersected below the pit shell at the Prospect Claim open pit.
Highlights include:
- 19.8 g/t Au over 8.9 metres
- 12.2 g/t Au over 12 metres
- 10.6 g/t Au over 19 metres
- 8.4 g/t Au over 11 metres
- 7.4 g/t Au over 9 metres
- 7.1 g/t Au over 7 metres
- 5.4 g/t Au over 11.9 metres
Crocodile Gold's planned drill program at Prospect Claim is to target higher grade mineralization below the existing pit shell as only limited drilling extends past 100 vertical metres below the pit. The new drilling will target the down plunge component of the higher grade zones within the drilled structure. The higher grade zones within Prospect Claim are steeply dipping zones associated with quartz stockwork veining with occasional steeply plunging quartz veins. These veins are most likely associated with cross structures to the main mineralized zone; these zones are being targeted with the drilling beneath the pit.
Previous mining of the Prospect Claim deposit extracted 444,000 tonnes at 1.6 g/t Au from the pit before mining ceased in 2003.
Crosscourse Open Pit
Over 700,000 ounces of gold have been historically mined at the Crosscourse open pit from 13.9 million tonnes at a grade of 1.63 g/t Au, which represents more than 80% of gold ounces produced from the Union Reefs project area. Crocodile Gold believes potential exists for extensions of the Crosscourse mineralization in the area between Crosscourse and Prospect Claim.
The mineralization at Crosscourse is contained within two lenses – the E Lens and Ping Que Lens. Historic drilling indicates the orebody continues down plunge below the existing Crosscourse open pit. The E Lens is located on the Union North mineralized line which contains the Prospect Claim deposit. Historic records indicated the E Lens mineralization was up to 40 metres wide at an average grade of approximately 4 g/t Au. As can be seen, the E-Lens mineralization consists of a steeply plunging zone of sheeted quartz veins. These veins were traced through grade control and made up a large portion of the ore mined at the bottom of the Crosscourse Pit. Only limited drilling exists down plunge of this zone.
Highlights of historic intersections on the E Lens, which plunges north into the wall of the pit, and is a high priority target area include:
- 10.6 g/t Au over 19 meters
- 4.7 g/t Au over 15 metres
- 16.9 g/t Au over 13.9 metres
Highlights of historic intersections on the Ping Que Lens, which cuts below the main ramp of the pit, include:
- 10.62 g/t Au over 19 metres
- 24.40 g/t Au over 9 metres
- 4.00 g/t Au over 9 metres
In releasing this information, Mark Edwards, General Manager Geology and Exploration for Crocodile Gold, commented, "We are encouraged by the potential for expanding higher grade target areas we have identified at Prospect Claim and Crosscourse as minimal exploration has been completed on these targets. This phase of drilling will be the start of an expanded exploration program in the Union Reefs project area in which we plan to add to our resource base and identify additional near term production sources in close proximity to the Union Reefs mill."