VR Resources Ltd (TSX-V:VRR, OTCQB:VRRCF) revealed that drilling is underway at its large Hecla-Kilmer (H-K) property in northern Ontario.
The property consists of 224 mineral claims in one contiguous block around 6 kilometers (km) by 7 km in size and covering 4,617 hectares.
The Vancouver-based junior exploration company said drilling will focus on two of three areas of high-grade critical metal mineralization discovered by VR within a large hydrothermal breccia system hosted within the alkaline complex with carbonatite at Hecla-Kilmer.
READ: VR Resources poised for drill program at its Hecla-Kilmer critical metals discovery; closes two tranches of financings
According to VR, four to five holes are planned for a total of 2,000 meters (m) and the program is expected to take four to five weeks to complete. Geochemical data is expected through year-end and into the first quarter of 2023, said the company.
Drilling is being done from the firm’s exploration camp established in 2020 on private land at Otter Rapids, 23 km southeast of the property. The camp has "green" electrical service, situated at the terminus of Highway 634 which links the hydroelectric facility at Otter Rapids to the towns of Cochrane and Kapuskasing on the northern Trans-Canada Highway 11 to the south.
In a statement, VR Resources CEO Michael Gunning said: "It is good to have the camp up and running and the drill turning again on our critical metal discovery at Hecla-Kilmer.”
“The program and approach at Hecla-Kilmer have advanced, from reconnaissance in nature when our exploration began in 2019, to advanced-stage delineation drilling in this, our fourth program, which is targeting known, high-grade polymetallic mineralization intersected at or near surface in three separate areas spanning 2.5 km.”
The company outlined the two specific objectives of the fall drill program:
- Delineate or extend the high-grade mineralization in Hole 13 both down plunge to the southeast and along strike to the southwest along respective controlling structures;
- Track the high-grade mineralization in Hole 15 on the south rim of the complex along a controlling northeast-southwest structure evident on regional and detailed magnetic maps.
In addition, time and weather permitting, the company said it will evaluate completing an initial test hole on the southeast structural boundary of the circular magnetic anomaly at the company's new Northway property located 12 km to the northeast of Hecla-Kilmer.
The firm’s drilling remains early-stage for a complex of the size of Hecla-Kilmer.
“That said, we have now intersected high-grade critical metal mineralization that exceeds 1% Total Rare Earth Oxides in 11 of the 17 holes completed to date,” noted Gunning. “Further, the recent 287m intersection in Hole 13 highlights the potential for very high in-situ values at Hecla-Kilmer due to the unusually high proportion of magnet REO's, and the polymetallic nature of the REE mineralization, which includes yttrium and niobium.”
VR is focused on greenfield opportunities in copper, gold and critical metals.
Contact the author Uttara Choudhury at uttara@proactiveinvestors.com
Follow her on Twitter: @UttaraProactive