Benton Resources receives Newfoundland drill permit

Diamond drilling is planned for the Staghorn property, the latest in a string of recent gold discoveries on the island.

Prospecting in Newfoundland: the minister of natural resources believes the island is "still under-explored relative to many other gold-producing regi

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Prospecting in Newfoundland: the minister of natural resources believes the island is "still under-explored relative to many other gold-producing regions of Canada." — Photo courtesy Government of Newfoundland and Labrador

Benton Resources Inc. has received a permit for drilling on Metals Creek Resources' Staghorn gold property in Newfoundland. According to a recent announcement, Benton, which is Metals Creek's joint venture partner on the project, is planning a 1,000 metre to 1,500 metre diamond drilling program.

The program will test gold showings, soil geochemical and geophysical anomalies that were identified by the company during the summer 2015 exploration program.

One of the priority drill targets will be the high-grade Ryan's Hammer trend, where selective grab samples have returned significant assay results ranging from trace up to 31 grams per tonne (gpt) gold. Drilling will also test the Rich House zone, where selective grab samples returned assays ranging from trace up to 189.2 gpt gold. Drilling is expected to start in late October.

The Staghorn property is located in southwestern Newfoundland, approximately 60 kilometres southeast of the seaport of Stephenville. Road access to the property is via the Burgeo Highway (Route 480) and several gravel roads that branch west from the main highway.

Metals Creek holds other mineral properties in Newfoundland. The company has the Jackson's Arm property, a land package to explore for bulk tonnage gold deposits in north-central Newfoundland. Jackson's Arm consists of 246 staked claim units totaling 6150 hectares and owned 100 per cent by the company. Metals Creek also owns a 100 per cent interest in the Tilt Cove property, which lies on the eastern side of the Baie Verte Peninsula in northern Newfoundland.

According to the Honorable Derrick Dalley, Newfoundland and Labrador's Minister of Natural Resources, gold has been an important target for junior exploration companies since 1980.

“Although there have been many discoveries, several of which were developed into mines, the island is still under-explored relative to many other gold-producing regions of Canada,” said Dalley.

In addition to Staghorn, there have been a number of other recent gold finds in the province. Dalley said there have been a series of new discoveries by Marathon Gold and other juniors in the same part of southwestern Newfoundland as Staghorn. Anaconda Mines and Rambler Metals and Mining have been actively exploring for gold in the Baie Verte district. New prospector discoveries of epithermal gold deposits have been made in eastern Newfoundland. A private company, Puddle Pond Resources, is currently drilling one such recent discovery on the southern Burin Peninsula.

In addition to gold, there have been discoveries of iron ore by such companies as Tata Steel Minerals Canada, New Millennium, Alderon Iron and Labrador Iron Mines.

Tata Steel is operating a new direct shipping iron ore mine in the Menihek area. Tata and Alderon are conducting feasibility studies on separate projects in the Labrador Trough.

Regarding rare earth elements, there have been new discoveries in southeastern Labrador (Port Hope Simpson REE district) by Search Minerals. The company is working to increase its resources in the district and has announced the expansion of the Deepwater Fox Prospect.

The province is also home to base metals. Recent drilling in central Newfoundland by Minco Plc and Canadian Zinc Ltd. has returned “encouraging results” on several copper-lead-zinc deposits and has resulted in new resource estimates. The projects are located in a developed mining camp that is equipped with existing infrastructure including power, a workforce and a central milling facility. Dalley said there are many under-explored priority targets in the same region.

On the Island of Newfoundland, explorers search for many different commodities. The island has seen more than 100 years of exploration for copper, lead and zinc. Deposits of these commodities in central Newfoundland are typically high-grade and contain recoverable amounts of gold and silver. The former Buchans Mine is a world class example of this mineralization.

In mainland Labrador, exploration companies have traditionally targeted commodities such as iron ore, nickel (associated with copper and with or without platinum group elements), rare earth elements and uranium. Labrador is known throughout the global mining world for its world-class deposits of iron ore (Labrador Trough mining district) and nickel-copper (Voisey’s Bay region).

Dalley said that despite the various challenges that are being faced by the global mining community, the long-term outlook for mining in Newfoundland and Labrador is positive.

“We are seeing strong interest from Canadian and overseas investors and we are confident that Newfoundland and Labrador will remain a prime target for exploration and development,” Dalley said.

Mineral exploration in Newfoundland and Labrador is forecast to reach $62 million in 2015. In addition, several advanced exploration projects are entering the development stage.

Mines in Newfoundland and Labrador

In addition to exploration projects, Newfoundland and Labrador are home to a number of operating mines.

Vale Newfoundland and Labrador Limited operates the Voisey’s Bay mine and mill in Labrador and a hydromet processing plant at Long Harbour.

The Iron Ore Company of Canada has been producing iron ore at the Carol Lake project in Labrador West since the 1960s.

Tata Steel Minerals Canada Limited is a joint venture between Tata Steel of India and New Millennium Iron Corp. The company has a high-grade iron ore project in the Menihek area of northwestern Labrador.

Atlantic Minerals Limited has a mining operation at Lower Cove on the Port au Port Peninsula. It produces chemical-grade limestone, chemical-grade dolomite and construction aggregates.

Anaconda Mining Inc. owns and operates an open-pit gold mine and mill at Pine Cove on the Baie Verte Peninsula.

Rambler Metals and Mining Canada Limited owns and operates the underground Ming copper-gold mine, the Nugget Pond mills on the Baie Verte Peninsula, and a port facility at Goodyear’s Cove.

Trinity Resources Ltd. owns and operates the pyrophyllite mine and milling operations located in Conception Bay South. The company also sells waste rock for use as aggregates in white cement.

Hi-Point Industries (1991) Ltd. produces horticultural peat and an oil absorbent product called Oclansorb. Used by the petroleum industry, the peat product absorbs oil to six times its natural weight.

Barite Mud Services Inc. has started to reprocess tailings from ASARCO’s former base metal mine in Buchans to recover barite for use in the offshore drilling industry.