BTU Metals Corp said it has completed drilling of four holes, totalling 1,299 metres, in an area immediately south of the Kinross Dixie-BTU border and adjacent to Dixie Creek at its Dixie Halo project in Ontario’s Red Lake mining district.
The gold exploration company said the holes are targeting an interpreted structure, which forms a series of breaks in geophysical features extending toward the 'LP-fault' and following the trend of Dixie Creek.
"The most recent holes drilled adjacent to Dixie Creek continue to provide further geological data in a completely overburden covered area,” the company’s CEO Paul Wood said in a statement. “We know that splays off of gold-bearing fault structures in greenstone belts can contain significant gold deposits.”
READ: BTU Metals set to kick off drilling at Tooth area of its Dixie Halo project in Ontario
BTU said rocks encountered in the drill program that have been logged to-date range from metasediments in the north, into mafic to intermediate volcanics, and back to metasediments to the south. Strong to moderate shearing is ubiquitous. Quartz, quartz-carbonate, and calcite veins, veinlets and stringers are also ubiquitous, ranging from a few percent in most units and up to 25% in areas of stockwork veining.
The company noted that alteration is variable, with many units exhibiting moderate to strong alteration. Alteration types observed include sericite, silicification, carbonate, chlorite, and biotite. Pyrite is the dominant mineralization seen in the drill holes, minor chalcopyrite also occurs in all holes, and minor arsenopyrite was noted in some holes.
“We have seen strong alteration and areas with pyrite and arsenopyrite and await assays from the four recent holes,” Wood continued. “While we await results from the lab, our geological team is reviewing our expanding database and prioritizing the next targets on our very large property.”
BTU said four holes were also drilled on the ice on Pakwash Lake in February, to test three separate geophysical targets. Core from the holes has been logged and sampled, while assays results are pending for all holes. The company noted that this drill program was partially funded by the Ontario Junior Exploration Program.
Contact the author at stephen.gunnion@proactiveinvestors.com