Callinex Mines Inc. has announced additional 2022 exploration targets at the company’s 100% owned Pine Bay Project, located 16 km away from processing facilities in the Flin Flon Mining District of Manitoba. The company has identified a number of high priority targets from vectoring completed during the 2021 exploration campaign along the interpreted growth fault corridor that hosts the emerging high-grade copper, gold, silver and zinc Rainbow deposit and five other deposits, three of which have seen some level of historic production.
Highlights
- Exploration along base of interpreted growth fault has intersected mill-rock and discovered a new copper, zinc, gold and silver bearing VMS horizon.
- Drill hole PBM-166 intersected 1.5 m of massive sulfides with elevated copper, zinc, gold and silver.
- A Borehole EM survey completed in PBM-166 identified a highly conductive 130 m by 400 m anomaly.
- Geology where the anomaly is located is indicative of a possible repeat of the rock package that hosts the Rainbow deposit.
- Targets are located in proximity to mapped Pine Root millrock; the 62 million t Flin Flon deposit sits in proximity to Millrock Hill, an outcropping of the same rock type in Flin Flon, Manitoba.
In 4Q21, the company began exploring within the growth fault corridor by drill testing a number of priority surface pulse electromagnetic (SPEM) and airborne versatile time domain electromagnetic (VTEM) targets that off-set a regional formational conductor. It should be noted that the Rainbow Deposit, which was discovered in 2020, flanks a separate formational conductor located to the east.
Max Porterfield, President and CEO, stated: “These exciting targets sit at the base of the interpreted growth fault that hosts Rainbow and five other deposits to the east. Similarly, the Flin Flon deposit sits in proximity to Millrock Hill, a well-known outcropping at the base of the growth fault that hosts it as well as the Callinan and 777 deposits. We are eager to immediately test the targets announced today in addition to the high priority targets recently identified by regional IP and EM surveys in an upcoming drilling campaign.”
Callinex focused on drilling targets that are proximal to the Pine Root River Millrock area that is interpreted to be the base of the growth fault corridor that hosts the Rainbow, Pine Bay, Cabin, Baker Patton, North Star and Don Jon VMS deposits that sit to the east. Millrock is a term used to refer to talus breccia that occurs along major growth faults controlling volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS) deposits. The Pine Root River Millrock area at Pine Bay is analogous to the Millrock Hill in Flin Flon. Millrock Hill is a well-known outcrop that sits immediately to the south of the 62 million t Flin Flon Deposit that kick started the Flin Flon Mining District which has hosted 32 mines.
JJ O’Donnell, Callinex Exploration Manager, added: “With over 40 000 m of drilling completed since the Rainbow discovery on the Pine Bay project, our gained knowledge and understanding of the overall controls has given us the confidence that the 2000 ha. Pine Bay Project will deliver additional positive results. Further testing of the favourable geology, mineralisation, and alteration noted in drill hole PBM-166 may generate a new VMS system for the Pine Bay Project.”
The geology intersected by drill holes PBM-160 and PBM-166 is indicative of a possible repeat of the rock package that hosts the Rainbow deposit, and warrants immediate follow-up drilling in 2022. Both holes were drilled approximately 240 m apart and collared into millrock. Most interesting, as the holes proceeded westerly the geology consists of very favourable felsic volcanic sequences which could be the fold repeat of the Rainbow horizon that hosts the Rainbow. Drill hole PBM-166 intersected 1.5 m of massive sulfides with elevated copper, zinc gold and silver. Additionally, the mineralization is hosted within a chlorite altered brecciated felsic volcanic unit which makes this a very high priority target area.
Alan Vowles, member of Callinex’s technical team, concluded: “In the case of the off-hole anomaly in PBM-166 with an extremely high CT, greater than 4000 siemens, indicates strongly that the target must have both high conductivity and significant thickness.”
The company plans to continue to delineate Rainbow within the first 1 km of surface in anticipation of publishing a maiden resource later this year. Since the company discovered the Rainbow Deposit in August 2020, the company has drilled 71 holes (including 15 wedges) for a total of 40 000 m into the deposit area.
Additionally, Callinex plans to immediately drill test the targets announced today as well as the high priority targets identified from new regional IP/EM surveys completed along 5.5 km of the trend that hosts the high-grade Rainbow deposit, Sourdough deposit and past-producing Centennial Mine.
This story first appeared in Global Mining Review HERE
