Probe Mines to Commence Drilling on McFaulds Lake Properties
The Directors of PROBE MINES LIMITED announce that mobilization of field crews will commence in the next few days to begin the Company’s summer drilling campaign on its McFauld’s Lake properties. The first phase of drilling will be focused on the joint venture project with Noront Resources (TSX-V: NOT) of which Probe is Operator. Recent Geophysical data has delineated a highly prospective horizon for chromite, which is interpreted to be the extension of the Freewest Resources and Freewest/KWG Resources/Spider Resources Black Thor and Big Daddy chromite discoveries to the northeast and southwest, respectively. The program will comprise eight holes totaling approximately 2,100m and will focus on the potential chromite horizon, as well as four additional geophysical targets that are prospective for nickel-copper and the platinum group metals.
Interpretation of VTEM airborne survey data for the Company’s 100%-owned Victory property is currently underway. A number of coincident magnetic and electromagnetic anomalies were delineated in the area surrounding last year’s drill discovery of a mineralized ultramafic sill and a drill program is currently being planned, depending on results of the interpretation. The program is expected to follow drilling of the joint venture project.
Data from the Company’s 100%-owned Tamarack property is being re-evaluated since the property was returned in May 2009. The Tamarack property contains both the volcanic and ultramafic horizons that host the majority of base metal discoveries made in the belt since 2002, which includes the Company’s own high-grade copper discovery on the Tamarack property. Probe expects to drill the Tamarack property once the evaluation and any further recommended geophysical programs have been completed. Interest in the property has increased since the announcement by Noront Resources of the Thunderbird vanadium-titanium discovery less than two kilometers to the south of the Tamarack boundary. The claims contain the interpreted northern extension of the magnetic units hosting the Thunderbird zone.
McFauld’s Lake
The McFauld’s area continues to receive considerable attention with recent reports of high-grade chromite and PGE mineralization from Noront and Freewest Resources, in addition to continuing intersections of high-grade nickel and copper at Noront’s Eagle One, Eagle Two and AT-12 discoveries. A preliminary economic assessment of the Eagle One Ni-Cu deposit reported an estimated resource (indicated) of 1,834,000 tonnes averaging 1.96% Ni, 1.18% Cu and 5.1g/t combined platinum, palladium and gold.
The discovery of chromite at McFauld’s has added significantly to the area’s value. The first massive chromite horizon was identified by Spider Resources in January 2006 while exploring for VMS mineralization. Noront Resources identified further chromite mineralization on its Black Bird 1 and 2 showings, while Freewest Resources returned significant intersections of massive chromite in its Black Thor and Black Label deposits. Highlights from the Freewest drilling include a 124m intersection grading 30% Cr2O3. The chromite occurrences are all located along a laterally extensive magnetic high that can be traced for approximately 20km in a northeast direction, along which many of the Probe-Noront joint venture claims occur.
