The Northern Miner, 5/6/2008
The Northern Miner, 5/6/2008
Reed Lake still showing promise for VMS Ventures
Vancouver - Though the initial excitement over VMS Ventures' (VMS-V) Reed Lake discovery in Manitoba has died down, the project continues to produce significant results.
VMS Ventures hit volcanogenic massive sulphide mineralization at Reed Lake in mid-September, lifting its share price to the $1.50-range from 20¢. Since then the company's price has settled considerably but every new set of results leads to a market boost and results from two new holes into the Discovery zone were no exception.
Within the zone hole 29 intersected near-solid sulphide grading 2.01% copper, 2.07% zinc, 21.99 grams silver per tonne, and 1.62 grams gold per tonne over 12.6 metres, starting 150 metres downhole.
Hole 33 cut abundant veinlets of chalcopyrite and pyrrhotite over a 207-metre interval grading 0.6% copper. A 102.5-metre segment returned 1.09% copper, 0.05% zinc, and 2.97 grams silver. An absence of black chlorite indicates the veinlets are not part of a central hydrothermal vent. Instead, VMS geologists think the mineralization is part of the footwall hydrothermal system, which remains open to the west and at depth. One of the foci of the new drill program will be to test the down-dip projections of that system.
These recent results lifted VMS Ventures 9¢ or 18% to close at 60¢ in May 6 trading. The company has a 52-week trading range of 14¢ to $1.76 and has 107 million shares issued.
In earlier news, hole 35 cored 19 metres of near-solid sulphide (results pending) defining the western extent of the Discovery zone to date and extending the mineralized strike to 125 metres, still open in both directions. The company is currently advancing hole 38, which will test the depth extent of that mineralized intercept.
Hole 34 returned 35.8 metres of 2.69% copper and 0.65% zinc from 168 metres depth, including 10.4 metres grading 3.52% copper and 0.27% zinc. And hole 30 cut 1.07% copper and 4% zinc over 23 metres from 193 metres downhole.
Currently one drill is turning on the Discovery zone while another is set to begin drilling the Tower zone, a large electromagnetic (EM) airborne anomaly located 1 km east of the Discovery zone. The company is negotiating a 10,000-metre diamond drill contract to secure drill rigs for the remainder of the year.
In addition, during spring break-up, which interrupted drilling for a short time, VMS Ventures conducted several surveys of the property: gravity, deep EM, and ground magnetic. Data from all of the surveys is expected shortly.
Reed Lake consists of a property optioned from W. Bruce Dunlop, another under option from Hudson Bay Exploration and Development, a subsidiary of HudBay Minerals (HBM-T, HBMFF-O), and several claims staked by VMS Ventures.
Reed Lake VMS mineralization is contained in moderately to intensely altered felsic volcanic rocks, typical of other VMS deposits along the Flin Flon-Snow Lake Proterozoic belt. VMS Ventures has been picking up property in the Snow Lake area for the last few years and now holds 12 distinct land packages in the Flin Flon-Snow Lake Belt.
Company geologists believe the core samples indicate the Discovery zone is part of a large debris flow, meaning the mineralization slid into its present position from a peripheral location. The absence of intense alteration typical of the centre of a VMS system supports this theory.