NWT Mineral Exploration

[Ed Monton]

Commander Resources releases final Malrok results

2004-10-14 10:55 ET - News Release


Mr. Kenneth Leigh reports

COMMANDER RESOURCES LTD.: DRILLING EXTENDS AND OPENS GOLD ZONE AT MALROK, BAFFIN ISLAND

Commander Resources Ltd. has released final drill results from the Malrok prospect area, one of the gold prospects on the 140-kilometre trend of iron formation being explored as part of the Baffin Island gold project in Nunavut.

Results for holes 04-30 to 04-39 are reported here. The latest results include the thickest mineralized interval intersected at Malrok to date and several high-grade gold values that, together, open up down-dip and strike extensions.

Hole 04-38, drilled down-dip from previously announced high-grade holes 04-4 and 04-5, cut 4.46 grams per tonne Au over 9.14 metres, including a three-metre interval grading 7.94 grams per tonne Au and a 1.5-metre interval grading 12.7 grams per tonne Au. This nine-metre mineralized interval, cut at a depth of about 59 metres, is the thickest intersected at Malrok and extends the gold mineralization at least 200 metres down-dip from the exposed high-grade surface showings in the discovery area (refer to the drill plan and section available on the company's website at http://commanderresources.com/gold/NR29/pop_2Rpx2big2.htm).

Holes 04-30 and 04-32 were drilled southeast from holes 04-29 and 04-28, respectively, to test the possibility for structural controls related to mineralized quartz vein trends at surface. Both holes intersected two stacked gold-bearing iron formations intersecting modest gold values over narrow widths in both the upper and lower iron formation. Hole 04-30 cut 13.57 grams per tonne Au over 0.5 metre within a two-metre-wide zone grading 4.35 grams per tonne Au at a depth of 76 metres in the lower iron formation, and hole 04-32 intersected modest gold values over narrow widths in both iron formations.

The higher-grade gold results in hole 04-38 and previously reported holes 04-04, 04-05, 04-22 and 04-23 within a lower-grade gold zone indicate the possibility for an area or trend of structural thickening where higher gold concentrations may be found. Only six holes have been drilled south of 04-38, including 04-29 (12.1 grams per tonne Au over 3.3 metres). No drilling has been completed down-dip to the east or further along strike to the southeast, leaving the mineralized system and potential for high-grade sections open.

Step-out drilling in holes 04-33 to 04-36, up to 600 metres northeast of the discovery area, identified a possible new area of mineralization returning modest gold values over narrow widths in 04-34 and 04-35. These two holes are 200 metres apart and almost 200 metres up-dip from hole 04-25, which intersected 2.69 grams per tonne Au over a 2.5-metre interval (previously reported). The iron formation in this area ranges from three to 10 metres in thickness and has received only limited drill testing. The trend continues to the east, where it has not been evaluated and potential may exist for higher-grade sections.

Holes 04-37 and 04-39 were drilled down-dip from lower-grade holes 04-24 and 04-10, oriented to test an east-west structural trend indicated by quartz veining on surface. Both holes intersected anomalous but low gold values in the Bravo iron formation.

Hole 04-31 tested a strong electromagnetic geophysical feature to the south of the main trend and encountered barren massive sulphides associated with black shale approximately 100 metres stratigraphically below the Bravo iron formation.

 
  
   SELECTED MALROK DRILLING RESULTS 
  
 Hole      From    To     Int.   Au 
 No.        (m)    (m)    (m)   (g/t) 
  
 MND-04-03  18.00  19.42  1.42    7.0 
  
 MND-04-04  23.00  29.00  6.00   9.15 
 incl.      24.00  27.00  3.00  15.12 
  
 MND-04-05  24.10  28.33  4.23   8.41 
 incl.      26.00  28.33  2.33  12.07 
  
 MND-04-22  16.50  19.30  2.80   6.76 
 incl.      18.66  19.28  0.62  16.81 
  
 MND-04-23   7.00   8.50  1.50  11.49 
 incl.       7.00   7.50  0.50  30.80 
  
 MSD-04-29  21.86  25.16  3.30  12.10 
 incl.      21.86  22.16  0.30  38.30 
 incl.      24.66  25.16  0.50  18.78 
  
 MSD-04-30 
 (lower IF) 76.11  78.11  2.00   4.35 
 incl.      76.61  77.11  0.50  13.57 
  
 MSD-04-32 
 (upper IF) 44.90  45.90  1.00   5.44 
 MND-04-34  63.00  64.00  1.00   5.86 
 MND-04-35  62.90  63.90  1.00   5.61 
  
 MND-04-38  58.78  67.92  9.14   4.46 
 incl.      62.78  65.78  3.00   7.94 
 incl.      64.28  65.78  1.50  12.70 
  
 

...............


MND equals Malrok North; MSD equals Malrok South. True thickness is 80 to 90 per cent of drilled width. For holes 04-30 and 32, true thickness is 70 per cent of drilled width.

Hole 04-35 was lost in the iron formation.

Drilling at Malrok in 2004 totalled 3,617 metres in 39 shallow diamond drill holes. The 2004 program represents the first drilling ever completed on the belt and confirms the potential of the Bravo iron formation to host near-surface high-grade gold mineralization. At Malrok, gold is observed as visible free grains disseminated within garnet and amphibole minerals in the higher-grade intersections. Due to the presence of coarse free gold, collection of larger samples from surface blast pits and the use of wider-diameter drill core will be considered for the 2005 program.

Detailed locations of all Malrok drill holes and a complete table of assay results are on the company's website at http://commanderresources.com/gold/NR29/pop_2Rpx2big2.htm. Results for 12 holes completed on the Ridge Lake prospect 30 kilometres east of Malrok and more than 1,000 regional rock samples are awaited.

Structural thickening by folding was one of the major controls localizing high-grade gold-in-iron-formation-hosted deposits such as Musselwhite in Ontario, Lupin in the Northwest Territories and Homestake in South Dakota. Structural, mineralogical and geochemical studies of the Malrok data are under way to identify the key features controlling the higher-grade gold. As part of this work, a three-dimensional computer model will be constructed of the Malrok prospect using detailed structural surface mapping and the drill hole data. This information will be used to develop guidelines for drilling extensions next year and for prioritizing other gold prospects on the property.

The qualified person under National Instrument 43-101 for Commander Resources is Bernard H. Kahlert, PEng; the on-site qualified person running the Baffin Island project is Wesley Raven, PGeo. Mr. Kahlert has reviewed and verified the results and content of this release.

Core sampling and analytical procedures

Individual drill core and channel samples are sealed in plastic sample bags, packed into 15-to-20-kilogram fibre bags, securely closed and shipped by air to Deer Lake, Nfld., where they are picked up by Eastern Analytical Services and trucked to its laboratory in Springdale, Nfld. All samples from the iron formation are coarsely ground with 250-gram splits pulverized to 150 mesh. A 30-gram pulp is then assayed by standard fire assay procedure. Samples from wall rocks surrounding the iron formation are crushed and pulverized as above, but only 15 grams are fire assayed for gold. Thirty-element ICP analyses are then completed for other metals and trace elements.

Due to the possibility of coarse free gold, all drill core samples exceeding one gram per tonne Au are checked by the gravimetric assay procedure at Assayers Ltd. of Vancouver. Laboratory performance is monitored by inserting duplicates and coarse field blanks into the sample stream.