Great Bear up 30% on Red Lake drill results
Great Bear Resources Ltd. [GBR-TSXV; GTBDF-OTC] shares rallied sharply Tuesday September 3 after the company announced multiple gold discoveries on its 100%-owned Dixie Project, located in the Red Lake Mining District of northwestern Ontario.
The company said the gold discoveries were made along a 3.2-kilometre strike length portion of the approximately 18-kilometre long LP Fault target, which transects the property and is hosted by the Dixie Project’s Bear-Rimini Zone.
The company said all of the drill holes that have intersected the LP Fault to date, have successfully intersected gold mineralization. Among the multiple discoveries announced on Tuesday is the Auro Zone, which was drilled at a 2.6-kilometre step-out to the southeast of the Bear-Rimini discovery area.
The Bear-Rimini Zone is located 2.5 kilometres northwest of the high grade Hinge Zone discovery, which last year ignited the interest of major players including Bay Street gold bug Rob McEwen and his company McEwen Mining Inc. [MUX-TSX, NYSE]. Together, they now hold 18.83% of Great Bear.
Covering 9,140 hectares the Dixie Lake Project is a typical Archean mesothermal gold vein system located 20-25 kilometres from significant mines that share the same geological and metallogenic characteristics.
They include Newmont Goldcorp.‘s [NGT-TSX; NEM-NYSE] Red Lake Gold Mine, which has been in production since the late 1940s, and was expected to produce 235,000 ounces of gold this year at an all-in-sustaining cost of $1,000 an ounce.
Highlights from the latest batch of drill Dixie Lake results include 101.70 g/t gold over 1.50 metres, within 10.65 g/t gold over 17.25 metres at the Auro Zone, and 27.77 g/t gold over 2.00 metres within 11.08 g/t gold over 7.00 metres at the Yuma Zone, which in turn is located at a 1.4-kilometre step-out southeast of the Bear-Rimini discovery along the LP Fault.
Wide intervals of disseminated gold mineralization have been drilled surrounding and adjacent to the high-grade intercepts, including 42 metres of 5.28 g/t gold in the Auro Zone, 22.00 metres of 1.14 g/t gold in the Yuma Zone, and 40.80 metres of 1.00 g/t gold in the Bear-Rimini Discovery Zone.
“These wide gold zones project to the near-surface in all locations,” the company said. Gold mineralization in the Yuma Zone has been extended from near-surface to 480 metres vertical depth, and remains open to extension.
Investors reacted Tuesday by sending Great Bear shares up 30.38% or $2.06 to $8.84 on volume of 630,723 shares traded. The shares are currently trading in a 52-week range of $1.62 and $8.85. That leaves Great Bear with a market cap of $353 million based on 40.7 million shares outstanding.
Equipped with $18 million in cash, Great Bear said it plans to drill along approximately 18 kilometres of the strike length of the LP Fault target between now and the summer of 2020. It has said it hopes to complete 90,000 metres (250 holes). “We plan to have drilled along most of the LP structure by this time next year, and, are already fully funded for this work,” said Great Bear President and CEO Chris Taylor.
Reconnaissance drilling will include up to one-kilometre step-outs between drill sections, with more closely spaced follow-up drilling around any new gold discoveries that may be made.
The LP Fault parallels Highway 105, the main access corridor to Red Lake, and is one to three kilometres from a powerline and paved road. It is also a 30-minute drive from the main Red Lake gold mine.
However, the company said gold mineralization associated with the LP Fault is not typical of the Red Lake district. “Early observations suggest that gold is associated with a large-scale deformation zone near the contact between sediments and felsic volcanics.
Accessory minerals include pyrite, sphalerite, and galena with minor chalcopyrite and arsenopyrite. Elevated lead, silver and zinc values are observed within higher grade gold intercepts, the company said.