Osisko Metals (TSXV: OM) has released new drill results from its high-grade, large tonnage and near-surface Pine Point zinc-lead deposit on the south shore of Great Slave Lake in the Northwest Territories.
Pine Point contains 38.4 million inferred tonnes grading 4.58% zinc and 1.85% lead (6.58% zinc-equivalent) for 3.9 billion pounds of contained zinc and 1.6 billion pounds of lead.
Highlights include 12.74 metres grading 8.07% zinc and 6.80% lead from 16.31 metres downhole; 4.35 metres averaging 11.78% zinc and 6.01% lead from 20.90 metres downhole; six metres of 10.90% zinc and 4.28% lead from 15 metres; and 8.50 metres of 4.85% zinc and 0.78% lead from 18 metres.
Jeff Hussey, the company’s president and CEO, describes Pine Point as “unique among its peer group,” given that “nearly 90% of zinc mine production globally is sourced from underground mines, underscoring the rarity of open-pit zinc assets.”
The company released an inferred pit-constrained resource for the deposit in December 2018.
Pine Point contains 38.4 million inferred tonnes grading 4.58% zinc and 1.85% lead (6.58% zinc-equivalent) for 3.9 billion pounds of contained zinc and 1.6 billion pounds of lead.
More than 40,000 metres of additional drilling were completed following the cut-off date for the resource estimate.
A new resource estimate is planned in the second half of the year with the aim of converting a significant proportion of the current resource to the indicated category.
Osisko Metals will continue infill drilling in early 2019 and begin a substantial exploration program in mid-2019 to test the brownfield mineral potential along the entire 65 km Pine Point trend.
The K-32 pit is situated within the East Mill zone and measures 300 metres in strike length with an average mineralized north-south width of about 130 metres.
The project benefits from nearby infrastructure. It is accessible directly year-round by an all-weather highway from Hay River, and is 4.5 km east of an electrical sub-station along a main haul road. On-site infrastructure consists of roughly 100 km of intact haulage roads that link the mineralized zones, as well as the electrical substation located in the middle of the property.
(This article originally appeared in The Northern Miner)
