Sacre-Coeur Minerals Ltd said it has completed a shallow prospect core drilling program on its Northwest gold project in Guyana, South America, showing that previous trenching results and the latest data combine to make Northwest a potentially attractive target for alluvial mining.
Trench results of up to 12.0 meters reported in February 2008 showed grading of 7.90 grams per ton of gold, and the recent shallow epithermal vein drilling intercepted up to 2.31 meters at 6.6 g/t Au.
Historic artisanal mining in the project area has also generated a significant tonnage of tailings often grading above 2 g/cubic meter Au, the group said. In aggregate, the gold-bearing mineralization and tailings covers a surface area measuring approximately 800 meters by 200 meters in the 19 Mile prospect, with a number of additional untested zones in future drill plans.
This and other similar deposits held by the company may lend themselves to rapid, low cost development and generate cash flow for the company to supplement its working capital during this current period of relatively strong gold prices but weak equity market conditions.
Sacre-Coeur is currently evaluating engineering, metallurgical, environmental, economic and other considerations related to exploitation of the alluvial targets and will make a decision concerning bulk sampling associated with test mining in the coming months.
Chief executive Irwin Olian said: “While the Million Mountain Project remains our top priority for long-term development and exploitation, with core drilling now ongoing in Zones 2 and 3, the newly identified alluvial gold targets in the Northwest Project area provide a potential opportunity for near-term cash flow for the Company at relatively low cost.”