The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
Aims to release an updated resource estimate in first quarter North of 60 Mining News – January 19, 2024
Located just south of the Great Slave Lake, Pine Point is home to a former mine operated by Teck Resources that produced roughly 14 billion lb of zinc and 4 billion lb of lead over a 24-year span beginning in 1964.
Click image to see larger map of Osisko's 2023 drill program.
Osisko Metals Inc. Jan. 16 announced the remaining results from its 2023 drill program at its Pine Point zinc-lead project under its Pine Point Limited joint venture in Northwest Territories-results the company expects to incorporate into a new mineral resource estimate sometime in the first quarter.
Early last year, London-based Appian Capital Advisory LLP agreed to invest as much as C$100 million (US$74 million) to earn up to a 60% JV interest in the newly formed Pine Point Limited. This investment, to be made over four years, is intended to accelerate the zinc-lead property to shovel-ready status.
With the funding expected to cover all costs, including resource definition drilling, additional exploration drilling, feasibility, environmental assessment and permitting, and Indigenous engagements, Osisko wasted no time getting to work.
Beginning the exploration season with definition drilling, the program was ultimately planned to achieve an average drill spacing of approximately 30 meters within the current modeled mineral resources reported in a 2022 preliminary economic assessment for Pine Point; this spacing was intended to upgrade inferred resources to the indicated category.
Highlights from its previous drilling results included:
• 10 meters averaging 7.2% zinc and 0.73% lead from a depth of 56 meters in hole K68-23-PP-001.
• Six meters averaging 11.37% zinc and 0.54% lead from 60 meters in K68-23-PP-009.
• Eight meters averaging 9.44% zinc and 1.2% lead from 54 meters in K68-23-PP-020.
• 10 meters averaging 5.2% zinc and 3.5% lead from 50 meters in K68-23-PP-030.
• Seven meters averaging 9.97% zinc and 4.49% lead from 63 meters in K68-23-PP-064B.
While its previous results rolled in from the K68 Zone deposit, the latest batch comes from the C2, N1, NE1, and NE2 zones, which the company says are all from near-surface tabular-style deposits.
Highlights from the final batch of 2023 include:
• 11 meters averaging 12.48% zinc and 2.23% lead from surface in hole K51-23-PP-004.
• Five meters averaging 8.47% zinc and 1.02% lead in K51-23-PP-005.
• 4.95 meters averaging 11.36% zinc and 1.07% lead in K51-23-PP-020.
• Four meters averaging 8.08% zinc and 1.21% lead in T37-23-PP-004.
• 4.1 meters averaging 9.72% zinc and 1.67% lead in X49-23-PP-014.
• Five meters averaging 5.85% zinc and 1.3% lead in X49-23-PP-027.
• 5.5 meters averaging 12.8% zinc and 1.38% lead in X59-23-PP-014.
• Six meters averaging 16.47% zinc and 1.42% lead in X60-23-PP-003.
• Eight meters averaging 7.86% zinc and 1.13% lead in X68-23-PP-014.
• 6.5 meters averaging 6.38% zinc and 0.93% lead in X68-23-PP-016.
• Eight meters averaging 6.81% zinc and 0.63% lead in Y62-23-PP-003.
"Drill results over the last five years at Pine Point have met or exceeded expectations, and now that the definition drilling program is essentially completed, we will have an updated mineral resource estimate this quarter," said Osisko Metals CEO Robert Wares. "This MRE (mineral resource estimate) will comprise mostly indicated resources and will be updated to take into account higher estimated mining and energy costs."
Prior to this drilling, Pine Point hosted 15.8 million metric tons of indicated resource averaging 4.17% zinc and 1.53% lead, plus 47.2 million metric tons of inferred resource averaging 4.43% zinc and 1.68% lead.
A 2022 preliminary economic assessment based on this resource outlined plans for a mine capable of producing 329 million pounds of zinc and 141 million lb of lead annually over 12 years of mining.
The new resource being calculated will serve as the basis for a feasibility study expected to get underway in the coming weeks.
In the meantime, the JV is gearing up for a C$3 million drill program at Pine Point.
"This winter, we will focus on drill-testing new prismatic-style exploration targets at Pine Point with a significant drill program," said Wares. "With an updated MRE in hand, our joint-venture with Appian Natural Resources Fund III LP is successfully advancing Pine Point as we enter the feasibility stage of the project."
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