Gregory River Technical Report (PDF, 3 MB)

Target Type:
Cyprus-type volcanogenic exhalative high-grade copper (2 to >10% Cu) (+/-Zn & Au) and very high-grade lode-type Cu (10 to >15%) in veins. Volcanogenic exhalative-epithermal high-grade gold deposits (4->10 g Au/t).

Location:
Gregory River, Bay of Islands, Newfoundland. Helicopter access, 15 minutes from Corner Brook.

Claims & Ownership:
23 claims (575 ha); 100% owned by Playfair Mining Ltd. www.playfairmining.com

History:
High-grade copper rich lodes were first found in Gregory River in 1921 and within several years 8 more very high-grade Cu zones and more than 30 Cu showings were found over 4-km of strike length.

• 1953-55: four to five short adits were driven into four separate Cu zones; all with high Cu results.

• 1950's-1960's: intermittent exploration & drilling done with 'successful' results.

• 1970: Noranda carried out soil and EM surveys over several grids with >12 new Cu showings and VMS-style alteration zones found.

• 1972: Long Lac Minerals did an AEM survey and channel sampled the old zones with excellent results over mineable widths.

• 1991-92: Noranda carried out a property wide soil survey and local geophysical surveys and located six new VMS showings and several new gold prospects.

• 2001-02: The Fee Simple Mining Grants expire and South Coast stakes the main mineral zones.

Geological Setting:
The Gregory River claims are underlain by the L. Ordovician Bay of Islands Ophiolite Complex consisting of faulted ultramafics, sheeted diabase dikes, basaltic pillow lavas and narrow zones of sedimentary rocks. Three to four different, but related styles of mineralization occur on the Project:

• classic exhalative Cyprus-type high-grade Cu VMS;

• high grade Cu lodes-quartz veins in fault-shears and along dike contacts;

• epithermal-exhalative gold-only (i.e. low to nil base metals) mineralization hosted as disseminated sulfides-stockworks (<20% pyrite) in strongly clay altered, silicified & sericitized mafics and breccias; grades up to 10.8 g Au/t have been obtained from these newly discovered zones. No follow up work has yet to be done in the zones since the 1991 discovery.

Highlights:

• Camp & Moose Brooks: 1991 Noranda chip sampled a newly found silicified-sericitic-clay alteration zone with gold values of 1 to 10.9 g Au/t (9 samples) over 50 m; no follow up work was yet to be done. Similar style alteration zones occur elsewhere on the property but only the Friar Tuck zone has been assayed for gold (>3.5 g Au/t); the other zones were never recognized as having gold potential.

• 1992 Noranda drilled a new Cu soil anomaly and cut 1.0% Cu over 19 m; no follow up work was done.

• Hall Lode: Consists of quartz veins hosting chalcopyrite, chalcocite & pyrite within a 12 m wide shear in gabbro. Channel assays of 6.3% Cu over 0.6 m; 7% Cu over 0.15 m and 19% Cu over 2.1 m. The vein supposedly averages 5.0% Cu over 1.8 m along 160 m and vertically >60 m.

• Palmer Lode (Ore Brook Lode): A sulfide-rich quartz vein trenched along 215 m on surface and over a vertical range of 107 m supposedly averages 5.0% Cu across a vein width of 1.2 to 1.7 m. A 91 m long adit was driven in the 1950's and channel assays of 7.8% Cu over 1.1 m and 2.3% Cu over 1.8 m were obtained.

• No 2 Lode: Channel samples assayed 2.5% Cu over 2 m.

• No 7 Lode: This zone has assays values of up to 5.0% Cu over 2 m and visual estimates of 1% Cu over 0.3 m to 1.0 m; where exposed it supposedly averages 4% Cu over 1.1 m along 9 m of strike.

• No 9 Lode: This sulfide-bearing vein is close to the intrusive contact of gabbros and metavolcanics in a brecciated zone. Channel samples were reported as: 1.6% Cu/0.3 m; 1.9% Cu/0.6 m; 6.2% Cu/1.4 m; 1.1% Cu/0.7 m & 11.4% Cu/0.7 m. The vein is 4.5 m wide and supposedly averages 5% Cu over 1.5 m along an exposed strike length of 9 m.

• Court A Lode: Is a 2,500 m long vein-lode localized along a west-trending transverse fault consisting of a lens of heavy solid sulfides 3 m thick. Channel samples graded: 15.9% Cu/2.6 m, 15.5% Cu/2.6 m, 16.2% Cu/1.1 m, 2.9% Cu/1.7 m (Hatch, 1922); 12.6% Cu/1.5 m, 11.4% Cu/1.8 m (Derry, Michener, Booth, 1972) and a government DDH cut 4.4% Cu/1.5 m. The surface section of the zone supposedly averages 13% Cu across 1.5 m along 61 m and to a depth of ~25 m hosts 7,300 tonnes of copper ore grading 13% Cu.

• Court B Lode: Masses & stringers of chalcopyrite occur within quartz veins hosted by gabbro. Channels yielded 10.3% Cu over 0.7 m (Reid, 1922) and 3.9% Cu over 1.5 m (DMB, 1972).

• Court C Lode: Chalcopyrite, chalcocite and pyrite occurs in quartz veins averaging ~2.0 m thick. Chip samples assayed 7.8% Cu over 2 m. The prospect was estimated to average 7% Cu over 1.8 m exposed along 50 m with a near surface resource of 7,500 tons grading 7.8% Cu.

• Mitchell Lode deposit: Chalcopyrite, bornite, chalcocite, pyrite and in quartz veins hosted in fine grained (sheared and chloritized) gabbro. In 1953 a 30 m adit & U/G drilling was done. A very high-grade section of the adit supposedly averaged 18.4% Cu over 1.8 m along 7.6 m for a resource of 8,000 tons grading 18% to surface.

• Red Lode: Not well exposed, this zone is likely a disseminated-massive sulfide zone in altered gabbros/basalts and occurs ~400-500 m along strike from the Jumbo Zone. High Cu in soils and silts not yet followed up.

• Jumbo Deposit: High-grade Cu is localized adjacent to a highly sheared contact between gabbro and basic volcanics and at the base of gabbro sill; VMS mineralization is up to 4.5 m thick.

  • In 1953-54 two adits were driven into the zones; channels assayed up to 14% Cu over 3.0 m and 9.3% Cu over 10 m.

  • Two contiguous zones supposedly averaged 14% Cu over 3.1 m along 75 m (massive VMS ore) and a disseminated sulfide zone averaged 9.3% Cu over 9.1 m.

  • 'Reserves" around the adits were estimated at ~15,000 tons @ 14.7% Cu (massive VMS ore) and ~28,000 tons @ 6.0% Cu (disseminated ore).

  • Significant EM & SP anomalies and Cu silts & soils anomalies yet to be followed up.

• A very high potential exists for the discovery and delineation of epithermal-exhalative (i.e. extensive-large tonnage) gold deposits in over 3 to 4 known auriferous alteration zones and for the new discovery of good-grade to high-grade gold zones.

Recommended Exploration:
The Project requires an extensive exploration program of follow up prospecting and sampling of known Cu anomalies and Cu zones and detailed exploration in the known gold zones and alteration zones. Drilling of these excellent gold and copper prospects could commence during the summer 2004.

Prepared By:
Charles Dearin, P. Geo.
January 16, 2004