QUEBEC CITY, QUEBEC--(Marketwired - Oct 17, 2017) - Stelmine Canada Ltd.(« Stelmine ») (TSX VENTURE:STH) is pleased to provide a summary and highlights of the exploration work accomplished on its Courcy flagship property during the summer 2017 campaign. The exploration work allowed the unearthing of 16 new mineralized zones through overburden stripping generating values up to 24.8 g/t Au from grab samples. Over 398 m of channel sampling was carried out on 2,000 m2 of rocks stripped of overburden. Analytical results, most of them from channel samples, are pending.
The property is located in the eastern segment of the Opinaca sub-province near the Quebec/Labrador border, 100 km west of the city of Fermont, Quebec. From June 10 to October 4, 2017, our field crew reinterpreted the geology of the eastern half of the property while extending the known gold-bearing zones and unearthing new prospective zones by extensive overburden stripping and rock sampling (Figure 1, all figures are on our website).
The exploration was carried out by a team of geologists, technicians and specialists from a base camp built upon the shore of Lake Couteau. Highlights of the summer campaign are given below :
- Discovery of new potential Au-rich zones;
- More than 16 new mineralized (pyrrhotite-pyrite-chalcopyrite-rich) zones totalizing > 2,000m2 were stripped of the overburden, mapped and sampled (grab and channel samples);
- A total of 751 rock samples, including 433 channel samples having a total length of 398 m were collected from outcrops, ancient and new stripped zones. Theses samples were sent for Au and other metal analysis to the ALS Chemex Laboratories in Val d'Or;
- Geological mapping of the eastern part of the property by our geologists (35% of the original total property area) allowed the reinterpretation of the geological and structural framework.
Stelmine also reinterpreted previous airborne and ground-based geophysical surveys (i.e. Mag, VTEM, TDEM, Max-Min). Rock samples were sent to IOS Services Géoscientifiques for thin section examination and rock samples were forwarded to ALS Chemex for whole rock and trace element analyses.
Analytical Results
Up until now, a total of 473 Au analyses, most of them from grab samples, were received form the laboratory. A total of 28 analyses revealed Au concentrations > 0.30 g/t, several with values > 1.0 g/t, including concentrations of 2.84, 4.21, 8.39 and 24.8 g/t Au respectively. These samples come principally from two main areas situated west and south of the Courcy camp (Figures 2 and 3).
In the Southern Zone, pyrrhotite-garnet rich BIFs, commonly containing fuchsite, surrounding quartz arenite/sandstone beds and altered shear zones/mylonites accompanied by ultramafic sills provide Au-rich samples along a 1.2 km ENE-WSW-oriented, highly magnetic and conductive structure (Figure 2). 11 grab samples yielded values ranging from 0.36 to 24.8 g/t Au. Combining these results with the previous data obtained by SOQUEM (2004-2006) along the same structure, brings the total of grab samples having Au values > 0.3 g/t to 30; yielding an average concentration of 2.75 g/t Au.
The Western Zone, located west of lake Couteau, reveals pyrrhotite-rich gold-bearing samples collected from thick BIF beds (5-10 m) and surrounding pyrrhotite-injected garnet-bearing meta-greywackes and quartz-veins from an area of 2.5 km2 (Figure 3). The bulk of the analytical results is yet to be received. Other gold-bearing grab samples produced Au values from 0.31 to 8.38 g/t Au averaging 1.49 g/t. 21 Grab samples taken by SOQUEM form the same BIF-rich area gave an average concentration of 1.93 g/t Au, bringing the cumulative SOQUEM/Stelmine average to 1.79 g/t Au. A 772 m DDH campaign distributed in eight holes was also conducted in the Northern Zone by SOQUEM in 2006. Best results yielded: 0.4 g/t Au @15 m (Hole no. 2); 0.94 g/t Au @ 10.50 m (Hole no. 4) and 4.27 g/t Au @ 42 m (including 12.15 g/t Au @ 13.5 m; Hole no. 8).
Geological Mapping
Systematic geological mapping indicates a new lithological and structural interpretation of the Courcy property. The geological and structural framework suggests the extension of the metasedimentary Opinaca sub-province into the Courcy region instead of the Opatica. Numerous (meta-) sedimentary units such as greywackes, mudstones, quartz arenites, quartzites and polygenic/ monogenic conglomerates are interbedded with pyrrhotite and garnet-rich Banded Iron Formations (BIFs) and subordinate volcanic rocks. Numerous ENE-WSW-oriented shear/mylonite/ and deformation zones were identified in the Southern Zone near the metasedimentary/tonalite rock contact. A large NE-SW-oriented synform forms the principal structure.
Geophysics
New geophysics maps drawn through the re-processing and interpretation of the past data filed by SOQUEM show a clear distinction in apparent resistivity, whereas the Soulard Formation containing the Au-mineralized BIFs is characterized by very low apparent resistivity relative to the Courcy Formation and plutonic rocks. This testifies of the sedimentary mature of the Soulard Formation. 2D first derivative and 3D inversion magnetic contour maps show strong positive anomalies for magnetic-rich ultramafic sills/dykes and moderate to weak anomalies for pyrrhotite-rich BIFs (Figures 4 and 5). However, the latter show strong conductivities and the calculated Tau (dB/dt) values from the VTEM survey display relatively high thickness of sulphide-bearing rocks, mostly associated to BIFs, not only west of Lake Couteau, but to the less investigated northeast and southwest regions, opening new possibilities for exploration (Figure 6).
QA/QC Protocol
Stelmine implemented a strict QA/QC protocol in processing all rock samples collected from the Courcy property. The protocol included the insertion and monitoring of appropriate reference materials, in this case high concentration (MA-C2) and low concentration (GTS-2A) certified gold standards, blanks and duplicates, to validate the accuracy and precision of the assay results. All rock samples collected were put in sturdy plastic bags, tagged and sealed in the field under the supervision of professional geologists. The sample bags were then put in rice pouches and kept securely in a field tent before being sent by floatplane to the city of Wabush. Transport to the ALS laboratory in Val d'Or from Wabush was made by truck from reliable transport companies. Gold was analyzed by fire assay method (Au-AA25 package) and other elements including Ag, Cu, Zn, Pb, As and S were determined by ICP-AES after powder sample dissolution in Aqua-Regia (package ME-ICP41).
The technical contents of this release were approved by Michel Boily, PhD, geo; a Qualified Person (QP) as defined by National Instrument 43-101.
Follow us on www.Stelmine.com and on our Facebook page (Stelmine Canada) where we uploaded pictures of the Courcy camp and of our crew at work.
About Stelmine
Stelmine is a junior mining exploration company and its activities are located in the Province of Québec. Stelmine holds 754 claims spanning 383 km2 on the eastern part of the Opinaca metasedimentary basin, which contains zones with a high potential for gold deposit discovery in geological contexts similar to the one leading to discovery of the Éléonore Mine. Its capital stock consists of 21,926,452 issued and outstanding shares for a current market capitalization of $6.6 million.
Forward-looking statements
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