Jun 26 2013
Homestake Resource Corporation (“Homestake” or “the Company”) reported today that optionee Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. (“Agnico Eagle”) has notified the Company that it has commenced camp construction, with field-crew mobilization to follow and drilling to begin in early July at the Homestake Ridge property.
Cascading Longitudinal Sections of Deposit Growth at Homestake Ridge 2003-13
The planned $3.5 million program is Agnico Eagle’s spending commitment for 2013 under an option agreement signed in August 2012, funding exploration and development costs of $25.3 million over a 5-year period in order to earn a 65% interest in the property.
Recently completed geological and geochemical studies, commissioned by Agnico Eagle, have identified several target areas for detailed mapping, rock and soil sampling, geophysics, and drilling. Initial surface exploration will focus on the “Eskay Horizon” in the upper Hazelton stratigraphy, which is exposed for several kilometers of strike-length on the property. Limited drilling of this horizon by Homestake in 2009-10 intersected thick intervals of altered felsic rocks with strong silver enrichment over 10’s of metres in two holes. In addition, several areas of known mineralization, such as the South Reef resource, will be drilled along strike and down dip where not yet tested. Agnico Eagle expects to drill approximately 6,000m during the season. Some additional ground geophysics is contemplated to augment earlier IP/resistivity surveys and a property-wide airborne AeroTEM III survey conducted by Homestake.
The Company’s systematic exploration of the Homestake Ridge property since 2003 has resulted in the discovery of three significant deposits of gold, silver, and copper, making it one of the top undeveloped, higher-grade deposits in the world. Several other high-quality exploration targets exist on the property, which could develop into additional deposits.
About Homestake Resource Corporation
Homestake owns a 100 percent interest in the Homestake Ridge project, located in the Kitsault Mineral district in northwestern British Columbia, subject to various royalty interests held by vendors. The project is being advanced as a potential high-grade underground mining operation. At an $85 NSR cut-off value and based on drilling completed through 2012, the project contains an estimated NI 43-101 compliant Indicated Resource of 124,000oz gold and 939,000oz silver (141,000oz AuEq @ 7.3g/t AuEq grade) plus an Inferred Resource of 911,000oz gold and 20,366,000oz silver (1,225,785oz AuEq @ 5.6g/t AuEq grade) in three deposits(1). Visit the Company website at www.homestakeresource.com to see how the Homestake Ridge resource estimate compares to gold deposits worldwide, as ranked by Natural Resource Holdings (June 2012).
To date, 251 holes were drilled for a total of 70,533 metres, and multiple exploration targets remain to be tested on the large 3,617-hectare property. Agnico Eagle Mines Limited has assumed project management since January, 2013 under an option agreement signed in August 2012 to fund exploration and development costs of $25.3 million over a 5-year period to earn a 65% interest in the property.
Homestake holds an option to acquire a 100% interest in the 645-square-kilometre Kinskuch project, located adjacent to, and to the southeast of, the Homestake Ridge project. Diamond drilling along the Illiance trend on the Kinskuch property during 2011 was successful in intersecting high-grade silver/lead/zinc VMS mineralization in three of four holes. Surface soil and rock-chip sampling along the trend in 2012 extended mineralization to a 4.5-kilometre strike-length; Homestake plans to aggressively explore this trend in 2013.
Homestake owns a 10.19 percent equity interest in Bravada Gold Corporation (TSX.V-BVA) which is exploring and developing numerous gold/silver projects in several of Nevada’s prolific gold belts. At the advance-stage Wind Mountain project, BVA has received a positive PEA from an independent engineering company for an open-pit/heap-leach operation.