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The Sunbeam-Pettigrew property consists of 35 claims (~66 square kilometres) located 25 kilometres northeast of the town of Atikokan, which is in turn 180 kilometres west of Thunder Bay. The property is 17 kilometres from Brett Resources' (TSX-V: BBR) Hammond Reef property, which contains a National Instrument 43-101 compliant resource of 259.4 million tonnes at 0.8 grams per tonne Au (approximately 6.7 million ounces of gold). The Brett Resources Technical Report is available on SEDAR. The Sunbeam-Pettigrew property occurs in the Archean Marmion Batholith, which contains a number of phases, varying from tonalite to quartz diorite. The geology and known mineralization on the property are similar to the Hammond Reef property. The property contains two northeast-trending intermittently mineralized zones: the so-called Sunbeam-Atiko Shear Zone and the Pettigrew-Jack Lake Shear Zone. Both shear zones contain significant gold occurrences, including past producers, over approximately 15 kilometres of strike length. The majority of the previous work on the property was done around 1900; exploration activity since then has been highly intermittent and no work has been completed since 1990. The presence of regional shear zones as controls on mineralization does not appear to have been recognized during previous exploration. Click to enlarge
TerraX has completed due diligence site investigations in the area of old mine workings (circa 1900) and known gold showings to confirm that the property has the geological attributes for a Hammond Reef type mineralization model. During prospecting and sample collection, emphasis was placed on finding Hammond Reef style mineralization in and adjacent to quartz vein systems within shear zones, with associated pyrite and alteration consisting of sericitization, saussuritization, carbonatization and chloritization. TerraX collected 53 samples from seven locations along the 15 kilometres strike length of the mineralized structures on the property (four on the Sunbeam-Atiko, and three on the Pettigrew-Jack Lake). These samples displayed weak to intense alteration and shearing, and minor to five percent pyrite mineralization. These areas were consistent with the known visual mineralization associated with the Hammond Reef deposit, and the samples taken were expected to be representative of the large, low grade gold target potential on the property. Of the 53 samples taken, 36 analyses contained measurable gold, and 24 of these were significantly anomalous (>100 ppb gold) and collectively averaged 1.0 grams per tonne gold, with values ranging up to 3.83 grams per tonne gold. In addition a hand sample (not assayed) collected on the property near one of the historical workings contained visible coarse-grained gold which confirmed historical reports of visible gold found on the property. These results are consistent with expected gold grade distribution in a Hammond Reef style system. Of particular interest, seven samples taken by TerraX at the Roy Showing on the Sunbeam-Atiko structure, over an area of 60 by 40 metres, averaged 1.34 grams per tonne gold. Historically (1898-1904), this area had mineralization exposed in underground workings, pits and trenches for 180 metres along the strike of the main vein. At the Road Showing on the Sunbeam-Atiko structure, two samples were collected grading 1.48 grams per tonne gold in a quartz vein and 2.12 grams per tonne gold in altered granites. This area had a drill intersection reported by Nahanni Mines Limited in 1981 of 1.8 metres grading 15.8 grams per tonne gold within a larger zone of 8.5 metres grading 4.8 grams per tonne gold. On the Pettigrew showing of the Pettigrew-Jack Lake structure, six TerraX samples over a 30 by 50 meter area averaged 0.90 grams per tonne gold. This is comparable with previous work in the Pettigrew area, including 1983 drilling by Canadian Nickel Company Ltd with reported intersections of 1.81 grams per tonne gold over 18.5 metres in borehole 57751 and 0.41 grams per tonne gold over 27.56 metres in borehole 57766. In 1987 rehabilitation of the historical underground workings (1898-1900) by Canadian Nickel resulted in wall chip assays of 0.70 grams per tonne gold over 21 metres across the strike of the mineralized zone, and an average grade from seven bulk samples of 1.33 grams per tonne gold. All of these results support the potential for a Hammond Reef style deposit on the property. Significant Au Analyses from TerraX Sampling
Activation Laboratories Ltd. (Actlabs) carried out the sample analysis in their Thunder Bay, Ontario facility. Samples were subjected to Actlabs' RX2 sample preparation which consists of crushing the entire sample to a nominal 10 mesh (1.7 mm) size, and pulverizing a 100 gram sub-sample to 150 mesh (105 mm). A 50 gram sub-sample of the pulverized sample was subjected to Actlabs' 1A2-50 analysis (Fire Assay with AA finish) and any analysis over 3000 ppb was re-assayed using Actlabs' 1A3-50 analysis (Fire Assay with gravimetric finish). Initial work programs at Sunbeam-Pettigrew will include property-wide mapping and prospecting of the two main structural targets, and possibly wide spaced soil geochemistry to help define anomalous areas. This will be followed by ground geophysical surveys and stripping and trenching of prospective showings to help define structural controls and areal extent of the gold mineralization. The discovery of the Rubble showing (up to 48.6 grams per tonne gold grab sample) during staking in 2008 attests to the strong possibility of finding additional mineralization at surface on the property. Results from a government-sponsored airborne magnetic survey, justified in part by the results of Brett Resources' exploration, have recently been released. This data should help TerraX develop additional targets on the property. The work program at the Sunbeam-Pettigrew property was designed and conducted by Tom Setterfield PhD, P. Geo., and Joseph Campbell, P. Geo., who are qualified persons as defined under National Instrument 43-101. They are responsible for all aspects of the work including the quality control/quality assurance program. All samples collected were delivered directly to Activation Laboratories Ltd. Actlab's quality control system complies with ISO/IEC 17025 and CAN-P-1579. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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