Aquila Resources Inc. has reported that it is acquiring the mineral rights to a land package controlling the Bend copper-gold deposit near Medford, Wisconsin.
The Bend deposit contains a historical resource estimate (non NI 43-101 compliant) of 3 million tonnes grading 2.4% copper, 1.4 g/t gold and 13.7 g/t silver, and remains open down dip and down plunge. In addition, a separate gold zone containing 1.23 million tonnes of 4.7 g/t gold and .31% copper was delineated in historic technical reports (non NI 43-101 compliant) and remains open in all directions.
The project is part of the Company's strategic Exploration Alliance with HudBay Minerals Inc to explore for base metal projects in designated areas throughout North America.
Aquila President and CEO Thomas O. Quigley commented that "The acquisition of Bend is part of an effort, together with HudBay, to explore for and acquire mineral deposits in the Penokean Volcanic belt - an area of vast untapped potential in Michigan and Wisconsin. The initial acquisition and exploration costs for Aquila are non-dilutive and allow our shareholders to benefit from exposure to base metal opportunities in the Great Lakes area."
Bend Copper-Gold Deposit
The Bend project is located 35 miles southeast of the former producing Flambeau mine and occurs within the Penokean Volcanic Belt. The Penokean Belt is one of the most prolific VMS belts globally and hosts a number of significant deposits, including Aquila's and HudBay's Back Forty joint venture project.
Aquila has been issued an "exploration license" by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) that covers 5,560 acres of prospective federal lands (surface and mineral estates) within the Chequamegon National Forest. This contiguous land block controls the Bend copper-gold deposit as well as a number of important VMS prospects and geophysical targets. The license gives Aquila exclusive right to conduct exploration and advance its knowledge of the Bend deposit.
The copper-gold mineralization at Bend occurs in felsic volcanic rocks that formed 1.8 billion years ago. Mineralized copper-gold zones occur in several stacked massive sulfide lenses ranging from 3 to 21 meters in true thickness and consist mostly of fine-grained pyrite and chalcopyrite. These massive sulfide lenses are enveloped by a disseminated gold-bearing pyritic halo.
Bend was discovered in 1986 and subject to exploration throughout the early 1990's by the Jump River Joint Venture ("JRJV") between Asarco LLC and Lehman & Associates. In 1992 a historical resource was published by the JRJV based on 33 diamond-core drill holes spanning 14,000 meters. The report is on file with the BLM.
The historic resource was classified using USGS "geologic resource" and therefore is non-compliant to NI 43-101Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves Standards, and should therefore not be relied upon. In order to bring the historic resource up to NI 43-101 compliant standards, 20-30% of historic drill holes will need to be twinned and historic drill core re-assayed and re-logged.
Source: www.aquilaresources.com