Bayfield Ventures Corp. has announced additional high grade gold and silver intercepts on its 100% owned Burns Block property in the Rainy River District of north-western Ontario.
The Burns Block is situated adjacent to the east and on strike to Rainy River Resources' multi-million ounce gold deposit.
Highlights:
- East to west oriented infill drill holes (54 degrees, 60 degrees and 65 degrees dips) have been successfully completed to test for the lateral and vertical continuity of the bonanza grade gold and silver mineralization reported previously for hole RR11-71.
- Hole RR11-180 intercepted 30 metres grading 12.98 g/t Au including 5 metres of 64.66 g/t Au at a vertical depth of 40 metres.
- Hole RR11-181 intercepted 33 metres grading 13.73 g/t Au including 7.20 metres of 61.02 g/t Au (silver assay pending).
- Hole RR11-182 intercepted 12.00 metres of 9.53 g/t Au and 31.35 g/t Ag.
- Total vertical distance between these three holes within the high grade zone is approx. 12 metres.
- A forth east to west oriented infill drill hole (45 degree dip) passed over the zone within till cover but did intersect 15 metres of 2.89 g/t gold and 23.02 g/t silver in a separate zone to the west.
- Three dimensional modeling of these near surface intercepts is underway and will be extended to include the total width along the north and far north fences for which mineralization of greater than 5.0 g/t Au has been discovered. This width is currently at approximately 130 metres west to east.
- Silver assays for these east west holes are only partially received.
- Assays for sixteen additional completed holes are pending.
Discussion of Current Western High Grade Area Delineation Drilling Results:
Recently, Bayfield initiated the drilling of a series of holes drilled on due west azimuths in the northwest corner of the Burns Block. The purpose of these drill holes is two fold: to further delineate known high grade gold and silver zones and to explore for additional electrum bearing fracture zones between the existing pattern of north facing dill holes.
Currently, the Company has three set-ups for these east-west drill holes in order to test the lateral thicknesses and vertical extensions of the bonanza grade gold zones previously intercepted in holes RR11-71, RR10-15 and RR10-52.
The initial results from these east-west infill drill holes are highly encouraging. Drill hole RR11-180 intercepted 30.00 metres grading 12.98 g/t Au and 39.65 g/t Ag at a vertical depth of 40 metres. The length of this intercept demonstrates that the high grade zone intercepted in hole RR11-71 (11.2 metres of 60.05 g/t Au and 362.96 g/t Ag) has significant lateral width to it from east-west. It also illustrates that the high grade drill intercept reported in RR11-71 did not result from down-dip drilling through a narrow high grade structure. This fact is also supported by hole RR11-181 which intercepted 7.20 metres of 61.02 g/t Au (silver assay pending). Drill hole RR11-182 intercepted 12.00 metres of 9.53 g/t Au and 31.35 g/t Ag and was drilled 5 degrees below hole RR11-180 from the same collar.
The geometry of the three holes RR11-180, RR11-181 and RR11-182 produces approximately 12 metres of vertical continuity of the high grade zone along with highly variable but significant east-west continuity ranging from 7.2 to 30 metres. This high grade gold and silver zone is near surface and well above 100 metres vertical depth.
The highest grade portions of these intercepts have similar mineralogy, including coarse gold, electrum, dark brown sphalerite and locally abundant galena. The structure and alteration are also similar to identical in each intercept.
Three points are worthy of highlighting given the results stated above:
- Previous Hole RR11-71 (11.2 metres of 60.05 g/t Au and 362.96 g/t Ag) intersected a robust zone of bonanza grade gold-silver mineralization.
- The zone has complex geometry including highly variable east-west width.
- More drilling is needed to define both the upper and lower extents of high grade mineralization and to help determine whether this high grade mineralization is in fact the upper portion of similar grade material intersected in previously drilled holes RR10-15, RR10-18 and RR10-52 to the south.
Surrounding these high grade zones on the western portion of the Burns Block is a pervasive, lower grade mineralized envelope. This envelope is significant to the overall value of the gold and silver mineralization hosted at the Burns Block. The mineralization commences immediately under 15 to 25 metres of glacial till cover in the northwest corner of the property. Bayfield continues to see high variability in gold and silver content of the mineralized intervals.
Three dimensional modeling of the near surface gold and silver intercepts is underway and will be extended to include the total width along the north and far north fences for which mineralization of >5.0 g/t Au has been discovered. This width is currently at approximately 130 metres west to east on the Burns Block.
The high grade mineralization is complex in nature and contains both gold-rich and silver-rich portions as well as intercepts that are very rich in both gold and silver. Work is underway to help determine the mineralogy of the silver mineralization in several drill holes in the northwest portion of the Burns Block. The pattern of strong gold and silver mineralization being in swarms of mm-scale cracks filled with sulfides and electrum continues to be present. However, detailed examination of the gold intercepts has revealed the presence of coarse gold in pyrite clots away from the electrum filled cracks suggesting the possibility that at least two gold mineralization events are present at the Burns Block project. The gold, electrum and galena filled cracks are dominantly oriented at low to sub-parallel angles to the core axis in the north-south oriented drill holes and at higher angles to the core axis in the east-west oriented holes. This geometry continues to strongly suggest that relatively late, largely north-south oriented fractures were a primary location for deposition of high grade mineralization at the Burns Block.
East Burns Block Exploration Drilling:
Current drilling near the east boundary of the Burns Block is being carried out to test the high magnetic and conductive geophysical anomaly reported last December. Initial logging results show the anomaly is related to magnetite-sulfide alteration of mafic volcanic rocks. The main sericite altered zone target has been intersected below the mafic rocks and a significant interval of dark brown sphalerite, galena, chalcopyrite and arsenopyrite mineralization has been found and is in for assay.
Additional holes have also been completed in the eastern portion of the Burns Block. Logging results show the main and lower sericite altered zones increasing in both width and internal complexity. Assays are pending for these drill holes.
Current Exploration Summary:
Bayfield is currently continuing to drill east to west holes in the western portion of the Burns Block to define the dimensions of the previously discovered high grade zones. These holes are also designed to explore for additional, potentially north-south striking mineralized gold and silver zones.
To the east we are continuing to drill across the main sericite altered shear zone while also closely watching for additional mineralization in both the hanging wall and footwall of the main zone. Additionally, we have just commenced exploration drilling of the high magnetic/conductor anomaly identified by geophysical work completed last December.
Bayfield still plans a further 35,000 metres of diamond drilling to be completed on its Rainy River properties with the bulk of this drilling to be carried out on the Burns Block. Contracting of a third rig to conduct reconnaissance exploration of the large C Block land position to the west is still on the slate and is considered very important. The C Block is well positioned along the western extension of the Rainy River gold district and has had no previous diamond drilling done. Ground conditions will be the deciding factor in whether this exploration can be commenced this fall or whether it will have to wait until freeze up in early 2012.