The already promising potential of the Pine Bay Project just got stronger.
Callinex Mines announced Tuesday that a drill hole at the property has revealed a new high-grade zinc, gold, silver and copper discovery.
“We are very encouraged by this new discovery, which indicates potential for a large, high-grade deposit located within the existing mining lease at Pine Bay,” Max Porterfield, president and CEO of Callinex, said in a news release.
Porterfield sought to link the possibility of a Pine Bay mine to the eventual closure of Hudbay’s 777 mine. He said Hudbay’s Flin Flon processing facility “has less than four years of ore remaining” – a statement that apparently does not take into account Hudbay’s Lalor mine.
According to Callinex, the drill hole at Pine Bay intersected 10.3 m grading 13.1 per cent zinc equivalent mineralization containing 6.0 per cent zinc, 1.8 grams per tonne (g/t) of gold, 60.4 g/t silver, 0.7 per cent copper and 0.4 per cent lead.
The results impressed Callinex’s chief geologist, Jim Pickell, who has decades of experience in base-metal exploration in the Flin Flon region.
“Having seen several discovery hole intersections over the years, including at the 777 mine, I’m particularly impressed with this one because of where it sits, its high-grade nature and its width,” said Pickell. “I’ve always been intrigued by the special geological environment in the Pine Bay area and its likely ability to host a prolific volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) system.”
Callinex said it made the discovery by extending a previously drilled hole by 38 metres.
The existence and abundance of zinc, gold and silver indicates that the hole may have intersected the edge of a VMS system, the company said.
Callinex’s Pine Bay Project is located 16 km east of Flin Flon. The project area spans 6,000 sq ha and has two distinct areas with VMS mineralization: the northern Pine Bay area and the southern Sourdough area.
