New projections indicate the resource for McIlvenna Bay the deposit, owned by Foran Mining, is 65 per cent larger than estimated in 2013.
A Foran news release said the updated estimates will be used to complete a mine feasibility study, which is expected to be released near the end of 2019.
“In the past 18 months, Foran shareholders entrusted our management team with over $14 million of new funds to unlock the value of the McIlvenna Bay deposit,” Foran president and CEO Patrick Soares said in the release.
“We reached our first critical milestone by issuing an updated mineral resource estimate. Infill drilling has increased indicated resources by 65 per cent and improved our confidence in the grade and tonnage of the deposit.”
Zinc increase
Foran claims to have found an 89 per cent increase in zinc and a 52 per cent increase in copper, along with increases in the lead, gold and silver located in the deposit. The company added there is thought to be an additional 11.15 million tonnes of inferred resources in the deposit.
Vice president of exploration for Foran Roger March said the estimates were made by 239 drill holes and over 115,000 metres of drilling.
“The new resource estimate shows that the deposit is already host to a large metal endowment and the 2018 program has demonstrated that the deposit continues to display good continuity at depth and remains open for expansion,” he said.
“We remain confident that the resource can continue to grow with further drilling.”
Foran calls the McIlvenna Bay deposit their “flagship asset.” The deposit was discovered in 1988 by the Saskatchewan Mining Development Corporation. Exploration of the deposit stopped in 1991 before Foran began exploring again in 1998.
Foran said the deposit starts 25 meters below the surface and extends two km underground. They added there is potential for the deposit’s estimated area to increase as they continue to explore the area.
The deposit is located around 65 kilometres west of Flin Flon at the eastern flank of the Flin Flon greenstone belt near the former site of the Hanson Lake mine.
