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Pandora Property Overview | Background | History | Geology and Mineralization | Historic Mineral Resources | 2003-04 Drilling Program | 2011 Program Project Overview
The Pandora project is located in Cadillac Township, Quebec within the Bousquet-Cadillac gold camp, approximately 58 km east of Rouyn-Noranda and 470 km northwest of Montreal. The property consists of 18 mineral claims. The Company owns a 100% interest in the property and there is sufficient work credits applied to hold the unpatented claims for a period of 20 years. Barrick Gold Corporation, a previous joint venture partner on the project, holds a 0.5% NSR. The project hosts two gold deposits located on the eastern portion of the property (the North and South Branch Zones) and one other gold zone (C Zone) located on the western portion of the property. Two shafts are located on the property, with limited underground workings and production. Provincial highway 117 crosses the property in an east-west direction, while secondary gravel and sand trails lead north and south. Physical access to the project is excellent year round. Local mining resources are excellent, with locally available power, water and a skilled labour force present in the immediate area. Custom milling at various locations in Rouyn-Noranda, Cadillac and Val d’Or are options that are available.
Canadian Pandora GML sank the No. 2 shaft on the eastern portion of the property to a depth of 152 m in 1931 and carried out minimal lateral development. This work explored two vein systems near a porphyry plug and 27,248 t grading 6.1 g/t were mined and processed at the Amm mill in 1937. The Pandora property was acquired by Belleroche Mines, an affiliate of Upper Canada Resources in 1958. In 1977, Queenston GML merged with Upper Canada Resources and took effective control of the property. Between 1987-90, American Barrick completed 106 surface drill holes testing the Cadillac break on the eastern portion of the property. This work led to the discovery of the C Zone and the Branch Zones. In 1990 Barrick extracted a 36,189 t bulk sample from the North Branch Zone that was processed at the Camflo mill. In 1992, Queenston purchased Barrick’s interest in the Pandora and between 1993-94 optioned the property to Santa Fe Canadian Mining Ltd. Santa Fe drilled 17 holes (10,626 m) on the Branch and C Zone before terminating the option. In 2003-04 Queenston completed a 21 hole, diamond drill program on the property targeting the Piche Group volcanics along the Cadillac Break.
The northern half of the Pandora property is underlain by greywackes, mudstones and banded iron formation of the Cadillac Group. The sediments are arranged as a series of upright, tight isoclinal folds. The Cadillac sediments dip steeply to the south. The southern portion of the property is underlain by Pontiac Group sediments, generally greywacke and occasionally mudstone. The primary difference between the Cadillac and Pontiac sediments is the higher degree of metamorphism displayed in the Pontiac Group. The two sedimentary groups are separated by a narrow band (50 – 200 m) of talc schist and mafic volcanic rocks of the Piche Group that strike east-west and dip steeply to the south. The Cadillac Break occupies the Piche Group creating deformation in the volcanic rocks that occasionally is evident in the adjacent sediments. There are two known intrusive (syenite) bodies on the property. These relatively small plugs may be satellite bodies off a much larger intrusive stock to the south. The provincial government geologic compilation shows two 25 m and 50 m wide diabase dykes trending across the property in a northeast – southwest direction. Gold mineralization in the camp is associated to the Cadillac Break. For the most part, the timing of the bulk of the gold mineralization is late in the cycle of a hydrothermal event or events. This is evident by the occurrence of free gold emplaced on late fractures in quartz veins. On the Pandora property there are three areas that contain gold mineralization the C Zone, the No. 2 Shaft Zone and the Branch Zones. Total past production from the property amounts to approximately 8,000 oz. from 64,212 t averaging 3.9 g/t. The C Zone is located in the eastern half of the claim group at and within the north boundary of the Cadillac Break. It is recognized as a broad zone of gold bearing pyrite and arsenopyrite mineralization developed in altered greywackes, volcanics and talc-chlorite schists. One of the better gold intersections from a 1980 diamond drill program completed by Camflo ML was 3.1 g/t over 78.7 m in hole CF 80-47. The zone was discovered by Camflo Mines in 1980 who drilled 22 holes outlining a non compliant NI 43-101 resource of 131,400 tons grading 4.6 g/t Au. In 1987, Barrick reviewed the data and reported that the zone had the potential to contain an open pit resource of 2 million tonnes grading 2.4 g/t Au. In 2004 Queenston completed one hole below the C Zone intersecting a 53.7 m wide interval assaying 0.6 g/t gold. The No. 2 Shaft Zone occurs in the vicinity of a porphyry plug intruding sediments and mafic volcanics within the Cadillac Break. Here gold occurs in narrow, vertical quartz veins at the porphyry-sediment contact. The zone was developed by a shaft sunk to 152 m and four levels. The workings intersected two veins the #5 and Bell from which 27,243 t were mined grading 6.5 g/t (5,700 oz).In 1994, Santa Fe Canadian Mining tested the zone with drilling and intersected the #6 vein returning 9.9 g/t over 1.2 m in hole P94-141 and 7.3 g/t over 4.4 m in hole P94-143. The Branch Zones are located in the far eastern part of the property and were discovered in 1987 by Barrick who drilled 128 holes for a total of 32,041 m. The North Branch hosts four gold zones that occur along the nose (keel), north limb/ wing and south limb/ wing of a west plunging (50o) synform along with a zone (Sleeper/ North Branch Ultramafic Zone) that follows a narrow band of ultramafics (talc chlorite schist) forming the footwall contact of the Cadillac Break. These have been partly renamed the Keel Contact and Central Contact zones following the drill campaigns by Queenston in 2003- 04. The style of mineralization at the North Branch consists of biotitic volcanics, sediments or ultramafics that are mineralized with varying amounts of arsenopyrite, pyrite, pyrrhotite and chalcopyrite along with minor local visible gold. In 1990, American Barrick calculated a resource for the North Branch zones amounted to 1,201,343 tonnes at 3.84 g/t over true widths of 8.5 m for the North Branch Zones and 160,140 tons at 5.5 g/t over 3.5 m for the Sleeper Zone. These resources are considered historic and are not NI 43-101 compliant. In 1990 American Barrick extracted a 36,962 tonne bulk sample from the Keel Zone with a recovered grade of 2.2 g/t producing 2,600 ounces of gold. The South Branch contains three gold zones in the southern talc-chlorite-schist unit of the Cadillac Break, the two most important being the A and B Zones, which consist of quartz veins with arsenopyrite, pyrite and pyrrhotite [minor stibnite and visible gold] and, the Contact Zone, consisting of a more discontinuous quartz vein zone along the northern ultramafic/ greywacke contact. In 1990 American Barrick reported an inferred resource (not NI 43-101 compliant) of 837,340 tonnes grading 5.2 g/t Au for the South Branch (A & B) Zones. Following the 2003-04 drill program Queenston compares the A and B South Branch Zones to the Lapa South Contact and Lapa Contact zones respectively.
The mineral resources on the Pandora property were calculated by Camflo Mines and American Barrick and are considered historic as they were calculated prior to NI 43-101 standards. They should not be relied upon as they have not been verified by a Qualified Person.
The South Branch Zone located on the eastern portion of the Pandora property extends eastward where it continues onto the Lapa property to form the Tonawanda Zone. Work on this zone by Breakwater Resources between 1981- 1989 outlined a mineral inventory of 1,686,000 t grading 6.4 g/t gold. In 2002, the Lapa property was optioned by Agnico-Eagle Mines Limited and two phases of diamond drilling were completed near the western margin of their property. This drilling followed up previous Breakwater and Cambior results and continued to intersect a new gold bearing horizon referred to as the Contact Zone. After further phases of drilling, in October 2003, Agnico-Eagle reported an indicated resource of 2,232,300 t averaging 9.9 g/t (cut) and an inferred resource of 1,705,800 t averaging 8.6 g/t (cut). This 1.2 million ounce (1.7 million ounces uncut) resource lies in a body referred to as the Lapa deposit measuring 500 m long between 300 and 1,300 m below surface. The deposit remains open to the west, east and at depth and the western margin lies 100 m from the Pandora property boundary. Interpretation by Queenston geologists suggest that these zones strike and plunge westward onto the Pandora property at a vertical depth of 950 m. On the Contact Zone the most significant results were recorded at depth where three holes, 118-03-35B, 118-03-35D and 118-03-35E intersected 11.7 g/t over 3.6 m, 4.0 g/t over 11.3 m and 14.0 g/t over 4.0 m respectively. These intersections lie 270 m east of the Pandora property at an elevation of -1,067 m. Agnico-Eagle indicates that the Contact Zone remains open and displays greater thicknesses reaching 7.6 to 11.2 m at depth and to the west. In 2005, Agnico-Eagle commenced a US$30 million shaft sinking program to explore and evaluate the deposit. The shaft is planned to -1300 m and reached target in the third quarter 2006. At that time a bulk sample was extracted for metallurgical test-work. In the fourth quarter of 2006 Agnico-Eagle announced reserves of 3.45 Mt grading 10.2 g/t Au, indicated resources of 1.1 Mt grading 5.9 g/t Au and inferred resources of 1.4 Mt grading 9.4 g/t. Au. And also announced a US$90 million expenditure to advance the Lapa to production by 2008. At Lapa Agnico-Eagle are projecting annual production of 125,000 oz. at a cash cost of US$518/oz.
During 2003 and 2004, Queenston completed a 21 hole, (15,608 m) diamond drill program on the eastern portion of the Pandora property to explore for the same horizon that hosts the Lapa deposit. The drilling outlined three areas of Lapa type mineralization on the property referred to as the Lapa, Keel and Central Zones. The Lapa Zone is interpreted to represent the western projection of Agnico-Eagle’s Lapa deposit onto the Pandora property. Queenston holes PD-03-01,-03,-03a, PD-04-16,-16a intersected the zone returning best values of 12.3 g/t Au over 1.7 m and 8.4 g/t Au over 1.8 m in holes PD-03-01 and -03 respectively. The Lapa Zone occurs near the footwall of the Piche volcanics adjacent to the Cadillac Sediments. The mineralization is characterized by altered mafic and ultramafic volcanic rocks containing quartz-carbonate vein zones with arsenopyrite, pyrite, pyrrhotite, stibnite and visible gold. The Keel Zone occurs in a complexly folded portion of the contact horizon closer to surface and 700 m west of the property boundary. This zone plunges steeply west where holes PD-03-06,-09, -12 and -14 have intersected impressive values including 3.8 g/t Au over 6.4 m, 7.7 g/t Au over 0.5 m, 7.1 g/t Au over 3.6 m and 3.9 g/t Au over 5.1 m respectively. At the Central Zone, located 1.5 km west of the property boundary, five drill holes PD-03-10,-13,-15, PD-04-17 all intersected the zone type with a best intersection in PD-03-13 assaying 3.1 g/t Au over a true width of 12.2 m including 7.6 g/t Au over 3.5 m at 400 m below surface. The drilling at Pandora confirmed the presence of similar gold mineralization that occurs on Agnico-Eagle’s adjacent Lapa property. The deep drilling program experienced drill hole deviation and incurred additional costs in an attempt to keep the holes on target. Queenston is confident that the Lapa-style mineralization intersected in the 2003-04 drilling provides evidence that ore-quality material occurs at Pandora.
Since 2004 no exploration was completed on the Pandora property. The shaft and underground program initiated by Agnico-Eagle at Lapa resulted in a production decision in 2009. This operating mine within 250 m of our common property boundary will provide a deep platform to support continued exploration at Pandora. Prior to planning further exploration in 2011 the Company will monitor results of activity at the Lapa mine. |
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