Premier Gold Mines to add second drill at PQ-North
2009-03-02 09:29 EST - News Release
Mr. Ewan Downie reports
PREMIER ADDS SECOND DRILL AT PQ-NORTH - INTERSECTS MINERALIZED ZONES
Premier Gold Mines Ltd. will be adding a second drill following the intersection of significant mineralized structures at the company's 100-per-cent-owned PQ-North in Northwestern Ontario.
Initial drilling at PQ-North is designed to test two key target horizons:
- Downplunge of previously identified gold mineralization within a major fold nose;
- Fold structures along the PQ limb of the host iron formation of gold zones at the adjacent Musselwhite gold mine (Goldcorp).
The first hole drilled to test the fold nose has intersected mineralized shear zones in the volcanic rocks above the iron formation, in addition to a mineralized zone within the iron formation. The primary target occurs where the shear zones cut the main iron formation at depth, which will be tested by the next hole. A broad mineralized zone was intersected downplunge from the known mineralized zone on the property and consists of folded, laminated and strongly biotite-garnet-altered iron formation, containing pyrrhotite, chalcopyrite and rare visible gold.
The PQ-North project is located within Goldcorp's Musselwhite property holdings and is strategically located on the PQ limb of the key iron formation that is host to the majority of the ore zones at Musselwhite. Recently, Goldcorp stated that gold mineralization at the mine has been extended to the north, with intersections on structures that could trend in close proximity to Premier's PQ-North property (Goldcorp's SEC filing on July 31, 2008).
These results include a drill intercept of 15.5 grams per tonne gold across a true width of 4.5 metres (m) in hole 07-NSD-005, located approximately six kilometres north along strike of the main mine facilities. To date, the Musselwhite mine has produced more than two million ounces of gold, and has reserves and resources totalling in excess of 3.30 million ounces at the end of 2007.
The PQ-North property encompasses a major fold structure along strike from and within the northern banded iron formation, which hosts the gold-bearing ore zones at Musselwhite. Previous drilling has returned numerous significant intersections and has identified structural units similar to those at the mine. Exploration to date has included an airborne geophysical survey, which identified major folding and several untested structures similar to those at the mine.
Premier previously announced that it had signed a letter of intent (LOI) with the North Caribou Lake First Nation (NCLFN) that paves the way for a major exploration program on the PQ-North property in Northwestern Ontario.
The LOI forms the basis of a co-operative relationship between Premier and NCLFN that will guide the early phase of exploration on the property, including line cutting, geophysics and diamond drilling, as well as lead to a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in the near future.
In addition to PQ-North, Premier has four drills operating at the Hardrock project near Geraldton, Ont.,
and one at the Rahill-Bonanza project, which is operated by Red Lake Gold Mines Ltd., an affiliate of Goldcorp Inc.
Matt Long, PGeo, is the qualified person for the information contained in this news release, and is a qualified person within the meaning of National Instrument 43-101. Presentations detailing the company's activities on its active projects are available on the Premier Gold Mines website.
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