VMS Ventures Outlines Plans for Diamond Drilling at the Copper-Rich Reed Lake Joint Venture Property
Tuesday, August 10th 2010
VMS Ventures Inc. announce plans for a diamond drill program to begin shortly at the copper-rich Reed Lake deposit, which is the subject of a joint venture between the Company and HudBay Minerals Inc.
The Reed Lake deposit is a base metal massive sulphide-type deposit near HudBay’s concentrator in Flin Flon, Manitoba. On July 6, 2010 the Company and HudBay announced that they had entered into a joint venture agreement pursuant to which HudBay has a 70% interest and the Company has a 30% interest in the Reed Lake property and the two claims immediately to the south. The parties have also entered into four option agreements which grant HudBay the right to earn a 70% joint venture interest in properties held by the Company adjacent to the Reed Lake property.
Drilling will commence with one drill on the Reed Lake deposit during the second week of August, 2010. A second drill is expected to be mobilized on the property in approximately one month. Twenty drill holes are planned for a total of 7,000 metres in this initial program.
The initial drilling program is designed to test the continuity and metallurgical characteristics of the deposit. The drill collars will be established on 40-50 metre centers to provide the necessary data to allow the completion of a National Instrument 43-101 compliant resource estimate, which HudBay has announced is scheduled for completion by the end of 2010. The drilling will be done on sections to establish the true width and strike of the deposit. Some holes, drilled previously by VMS Ventures, will be resurveyed to confirm hole location. The high-grade core of the deposit will be targeted initially, with drilling then moving outwards to explore the periphery of the deposit. Mineralization will be followed down plunge to assess exploration potential.
VMS Ventures President John Roozendaal states, “VMS is very excited to see drilling resume at the Reed Lake deposit and we are pleased that HudBay is on the ground so quickly after the signing of the joint venture agreement. We left the project almost two years ago when markets were in the lows of 2008. To have copper prices over $3.00 again as we revisit this high grade deposit is very encouraging for our shareholders. The deepest drill hole to date, estimated to have intersected mineralization to a depth of approximately 450 metres returned 39.71 metres of 4.04% copper. The Company is particularly interested in the drilling that will investigate the geology below this level. We look forward to the coming months of drilling at, and around the deposit, and on the very prospective surrounding claim blocks we have optioned to HudBay.”
The Reed Lake properties are all located in Manitoba’s Snow Lake – Flin Flon Greenstone belt.
