VR Resources discovers kimberlite at Northway, Ontario
VR Resources Ltd. [VRR-TSXV; VRRCF-OTCQB; 5VR-FSE] reported drilling has successfully intersected kimberlite diatreme breccia in hole NW23-002 located in the centre of a large magnetic anomaly, 1.2 km in diameter, at its 100%-owned Northway project located in the James Bay region of Northern Ontario.
Hole NW23-002 is 450 metres northwest of hole 001 located on the southern edge of the anomaly, thus confirming the presence of a very large kimberlite diatreme breccia pipe complex at Northway.
Hole 002 ended at 357 metres. The hole was terminated due to excessive caving within the hole at the stratigraphic unconformity at the top of the kimberlite.
Over all, lower curst and mantle-derived xenoliths, phlogopite and olivine megacrysts, and spherulitic magmaclasts increase in abundance downward in hole 002, including kelyphite-rimmed garnet-bearing eclogite at 330.8 metres near the bottom of the hole.
Dr. Michael Gunning, CEO, commented: “Well, hole 2 just showed us that the Northway anomaly is real. It’s game on now for the potential of this large kimberlite complex, and the field of targets we have staked.
“Intersecting kimberlite breccia in hole 002 below the same cover of limestone and sandstone as in hole 001 located some 450 metres to the southeast confirms the discovery of an unusually large kimberlite diatreme breccia pipe complex at Northway. The uppermost crater facies are preserved in hole 001, and the modelling of our geophysical data only reinforces the vertical fabrics and textures we see in drill core, emphasizing the potential for the vertical extent of the diatreme breccia, and the sheer volume potential for the overall breccia pipe complex at Northway.
“We now have a successful test of the centre of the large magnetic anomaly at Northway, and we have more than sufficient drill core to submit for a preliminary microdiamond evaluation and compositional characterization of the various kimberlite breccia facies despite the termination of the hole early. The drill core from hole 002 has already been transported off site for detailed logging, where it will be processed, prepared and shipped to the SRC laboratory facility in Saskatoon for analysis. We will eagerly anticipate results by the end of the summer.
“I would encourage our shareholders to remind themselves of the geological context for this discovery as outlined in the previous news release dated Feb. 22, 2023, and as summarized on the Northway project page on the company’s website in order to appreciate the upside potential of Northway itself, and the expanded strategy related to the field of similar targets staked by VR.
“We intend to stick to the discipline of the overall framework of an integrated program and budget for Northway and Hecla-Kilmer planned for this month. As we process the Northway core, the drill is on its way to Hecla-Kilmer, where we have two specific goals for this program: Test two new areas for REE critical metal mineralization using new 3-D inversion models from the recently obtained, ultrahigh-resolution drone magnetic data and reprocessed gravity data; and obtain dedicated drill core for a metallurgy and beneficiation study at SGS Lakefield in Ontario.
“The current Northway-H-K drill program is again being run from our road-accessible exploration camp located on HWY 634 at Otter Rapids, an Ontario hydroelectric facility.”
The Northway property is located approximately 12 km northeast of the company’s rare earth element critical metal discovery at its Hecla-Kilmer project. The nearest town is Moosonee located on tidewater at James Bay approximately 125 km northeast. Kapuskasing is located about the same distance to the southwest, on the Trans-Canada Highway (Provincial Hwy 11).
Exploration is based out of a camp at the hydroelectric facility at Otter Rapids located about 50 km southeast of Northway. Provincial Hwy 634 provides road access to Otter Rapids from Smooth Rock Falls, located at the junction of Hwy 634 with the Trans-Canada Highway. The property itself is just 15 km west of the Ontario Northern Railway (ONR) which provides service to the communities on James Bay.
The Northway property consists of 64 contiguous claims in a single four by seven km block 1,315 hectares in size. It was expanded to a district-scale project by staking directly 284 new claims in 19 additional properties covering magnetic anomalies near Northway and proximal to the ONR line, within an area of 50 by 70 km overall.
The property falls within the traditional territories of the Moose Cree and Taykwa Tagamou First Nations.