Beartooth Island: Basement Conductors Detected

Application:

A Spartan MT survey was deployed to map basement conductors below the Athabasca Unconformity beneath the Wolverine Point sedimentary cover. Drill testing for prospective resistivity lows detected by Spartan MT will be carried out following the Spartan MT survey.

Survey:

Phase I Spartan MT Survey: The survey covered the northeast section of the property, consisting of 18 lines for a total 118.2 line kilometers.  Based on the classification of a series of anomalies, possibly produced by basement conductors, detailed surveying was conducted over selected areas of the property and associated resistivity lows were outlined from the initial 2007 survey.

Phase II Drill Program: Three separate conductors defined by the winter 2007 Spartan MT survey were tested, totaling 2511.55 metres of testing. The unconformity was intersected by two of the drillholes. Two off-hole conductors in two of the three completed holes were identified by a follow-up down-hole time domain electromagnetic survey (BHTEM.)  A total of 159 samples were submitted for analysis.

Phase III Drill Program: Preparations for the winter 2008-2009 exploration season are currently underway.

Challenges:

Wolverine Point conductive sediments can often impede detection of basement conductors with airborne EM surveys.  Due to extreme ice movement, one of the drill holes did not penetrate its intended target depth despite two attempts.

Spartan MT Results:

Unconformity uranium mineralization is often associated with clay alteration zones found above uranium mineralization in the sedimentary cover and are often detected as resistivity lows immediately above basement conductors.

Quantec’s Spartan MT survey successfully mapped basement conductors at 700 metres depth below the Athabasca Unconformity beneath the conductive Wolverine Point sedimentary cover that had masked the basement conductors from previous Airborne EM surveys.  Highlights from the drilling phase included anomalous uranium values above background levels; evidence of hydrothermal alteration; elevated boron values and off-hole electromagnetic (BHTEM) conductors. These features indicate the possibility of a nearby mineralized structure.

 

Golden Valley Mines Inc and Option/Joint Venture partner Ditem Explorations Inc will soon commence drill testing prospective resistivity lows detected by Spartan MT in the Athabasca sediments located above the basement conductors. 

Golden Valley Mines is a mining exploration company with approximately 137 exploration properties located in:(I) the Abitibi Greenstone Belt; (ii) the James Bay, Mistassini and Otish regions of northern Quebec; (iii) the Nunavik (Ungava and Labrador) region of northern Quebec; and (iv) the Athabasca Basin of Saskatchewan.