VMS Ventures Inc. (TSX VENTURE:VMS) has announced that joint venture partner HudBay Minerals Inc. (TSX:HBM)(NYSE:HBM) has informed the Company that the first step out drill hole undertaken by the joint venture has been successful in intersecting massive sulphide mineralization approximately 214 meters down plunge from the deepest intersection previously drilled into the deposit.
Neil Richardson, VMS' Chief Operating Officer states: "The success of the step out drill hole represents a major step forward in the advancement of our knowledge of the deposit and indicates that it may be significantly larger than previously thought. Drilling on the deposit prior to this step out hole intersected mineralization from within 50 meters of surface to a depth of approximately 450 meters from surface. The step out hole announced today takes the known extent of mineralization down to approximately 530 meters from surface and approximately 190 meters horizontally to the west of drill hole RD-08-71, where mineralization was previously known to exist."
Reed Lake Joint Venture Update and Exploration Results
Two drills are currently operating on site at Reed Lake. One drill is conducting in-fill drilling on the deposit in preparation for a National Instrument 43-101 mineral resource estimate, which is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2011. A second drill is drilling deeper exploration holes down plunge to the west of the deposit.
Drill hole RLD-015 intersected 10.09 meters of massive sulphide in the Zone 10 horizon, which assayed 0.67 g/t Au, 5.20 g/t Ag, 2.39% Cu and 0.23% Zn. This massive sulphide mineralization indicates the zone remains open down plunge and up plunge toward the main deposit. The exploration drill will continue delineating this zone up-plunge towards known mineralization.
On July 6, 2010 VMS and HudBay announced that they had entered into a joint venture agreement pursuant to which HudBay has a 70% interest and VMS has a 30% interest in the Reed Lake property and the two claims immediately to the south. The parties have also entered into four option agreements which grant HudBay the right to earn a 70% joint venture interest in properties held by VMS adjacent to the Reed Lake property.
Qualified Person
All technical information in this release has been reviewed by Dr. Mark Fedikow, P.Geo, who is the Qualified Person for the Company and Vice President of Exploration and Technical Services, VMS Ventures Inc.
Source: HudBay Minerals Inc.