Jan 21 2011
Balmoral Resources Ltd. (TSX VENTURE:BAR) announced today that drilling has commenced on the high-grade Fenelon and Martiniere gold projects in central Quebec.
The Company also announced that line cutting and geophysical surveys are also now underway on the Company's Detour East project located adjacent to Detour Gold Corporation's namesake project. All three projects are located along the Sunday/Detour Lake Deformation Zone, a major gold-bearing structure within the prolific Abitibi Greenstone Belt.
Fenelon Gold Project
Drilling on the Fenelon Project will initially target the high-grade Discovery Zone, where the average grade of over 170 historic drill intercepts through the upper 75 metres of the Zone is 38.99 g/t gold over an average width of 2.38 metres. The Discovery Zone, which was the focus of pre-feasibility level studies and initial underground development between 2001 and 2004, has been only shallowly tested and remains open at depth.
High grade gold-sulphide mineralization within the Discovery Zone is hosted by a series of silicified shear zones which cut a mafic-ultramafic intrusion, a common host to gold mineralization throughout the Abitibi. The Discovery Zone shares similarities with the high-grade portions of the 20+ million ounce Detour Lake gold deposit, including its location proximal to the Sunday/Detour Lake Deformation Zone. The Fenelon Project extends along the Sunday/Detour Lake Deformation Zone for over 20 kilometres.
Initial sectional drilling will focus on confirmation, in-fill and expansion of the Discovery Zone with a goal of providing an initial resource estimate for the deposit during 2011. Several exploration targets will also be tested outside the Discovery Zone, including a 2007 discovery located along the same mineralized shear system, 600 metres to the northwest, which returned 6.20 g/t gold over 3.00 metres.
Martiniere Property, Quebec
The Martiniere Property is centered 22 kilometres west of the Fenelon Project and is also proximal to the Sunday/Detour Lake Deformation Zone. Balmoral's review of available historic data from the Martiniere Property indicates the presence of three distinct zones of gold mineralization on the property.
The West Zone is comprised of three, sub-parallel shear related gold mineralized trends. These three trends have been traced along strike for between 175 and 470 metres and have been intersected to vertical depths ranging from 50 to 130 metres. The three zones comprising the West Zone remain open in all directions and will be the initial target of drilling on the Martiniere Property.
The Martiniere Central Zone is centered 450 metres east and approximately 200 metres into the hanging wall of the West Zone. The vein and breccia hosted gold mineralization from the Central Zone has returned a number of high-grade intercepts ranging from 1.47 g/t gold over 4.19 metres to a high of 14.40 g/t gold over 4.20 metres and including 5.91 g/t gold over 6.50 metres, 6.20 g/t gold over 4.10 metres and 12.40 g/t gold over 2.50 metres. A detailed review of the mineralization controls on the Central Zone is underway and initial testing of this zone is anticipated to occur in mid-February.
The Martiniere East Zone, discovered by one of the final three drill holes of the 2007 program, is located 280 metres east of the Central Zone in the footwall to both the Martiniere West and Central Zones. Gold mineralization at Martiniere East is related to deformed pyrite "bands" hosted within a felsic fragmental unit. Drill hole MD07-20, the only hole to test this zone to date, returned an intercept of 28.40 metres grading 2.30 g/t gold, including a one metre section grading 44.30 g/t gold. Balmoral is planning a multi-hole program to follow up and expand this discovery in addition to extending existing geophysical coverage in the Martiniere East area.
Detour East Project, Quebec
Initial exploration work has also commenced on the Company's Detour East Project, which is under option from Radisson Mining Resources Inc. Line cutting has commenced on the eastern portion of the property in advance of a planned induced polarization survey and a ground based magnetic survey is also underway on the western portion of the property in advance of drilling planned for later in 2011.
Mr. Darin Wagner (P.Geo.), President and CEO of the Company, is the non-independent qualified person for this technical disclosure contained in this news release. Mr. Wagner has visited the properties and reviewed drill core and technical documents from each of the projects.
Source: Balmoral Resources Ltd.