MacDonald Mines Exploration Ltd. (TSX VENTURE:BMK) has announced it will commence a 6,000 meter diamond drill program on its Butler Lake and Semple-Hulbert Properties in the James Bay Lowlands of Northern Ontario.
The 3,000 meter Butler Lake program is scheduled to commence in the third week of February, while the 3,000 meter Semple-Hulbert program is scheduled to commence in March.
The Butler Lake drill program will focus on high priority vanadium, nickel-copper-platinum group element (Ni-Cu-PGE), and volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) targets.
The Semple-Hulbert drill program will focus on high priority Ni-Cu-PGE targets in a never-before-drilled geologic complex that geophysicaly has been interpreted to resemble the Voisey's Bay Ni-Cu deposit.
Butler Lake Property
Vanadium
With the identification of high tenor vanadium pentoxide (V2O5) during the past exploration program (up to 1.57%), and the subsequent analysis of the geophysics underlying the area, the Company believes that there are at least two trends of vanadium-bearing magnetite gabbro with intersections up to 64.5m with strike lengths of 6 and 7 kilometers respectively.
Vanadium-bearing magnetite in the form of ferrovanadium is used as a strengthener and hardener for high-strength tools, and specialty steels. The Company believes that the delineation of vanadiferous trends on the Butler Property would be of particular interest to steel companies interested in vertical integration. As such, the Company will test the strike length of these potentially vanadiferous horizons with diamond drilling during the upcoming exploration program.
VMS
The recognition of the similarities in geologic setting within the Butler Lake property and that found at Kidd Creek by Dr. James Franklin, P.Geo has resulted in a focused analysis and subsequent synthesis of all geologic, geochemical, and geophysical data within areas prospective for VMS mineralization. This multidisciplinary synthesis has resulted in the selection of high priority drill targets which the company will test with ~3000m of drilling during the upcoming program.
Ni-Cu-PGE
The identification of unequivocal komatiites and magmatic nickel sulphides on the Butler Lake property by Dr. Larry Hulbert, P.Geo, has demonstrated to the Company that the property has the potential to host significant Ni-Cu-PGE mineralization of a similar tenor to that observed at Noront Resources' Eagle 1 deposit. The economic importance of komatiite was first widely recognized in the early 1960s with the discovery of massive nickel sulfide mineralization at Kambalda, Western Australia. Komatiite-hosted nickel-copper sulfide mineralization today accounts for about 14% of the world's nickel production, mostly from Australia, Canada and South Africa. The Company will target high priority Ni-Cu-PGE targets with diamond drill holes during the upcoming program.
Semple-Hulbert Property
The data compiled to-date for the Semple-Hulbert property has been reviewed by leading experts in the nickel field, and has been described as a Voisey's Bay look-alike. Target prioritization will be completed over the area in March, with diamond drilling following shortly thereafter.
Source: MacDonald Mines Exploration Ltd.