On December 17, 2009, the Company acquired the formerly producing Marlhill Mine property from Goldcorp as part of a land acquisition transaction involving 28 square kilometres of highly prospective exploration property around the Bell Creek Mine.
Highlights
December 17, 2009 – Lake Shore Gold acquired Marlhill Mine property as part of 28 square kilometre land package obtained from Goldcorp situated around the Bell Creek Mine.
May 2, 2011 – The Company announces an initial, shallow NI 43-101 resource at Marlhill, to a depth of approximately 360 metres, of 395,000 tonnes at an average grade of 4.52 gpt for 57,400 ounces in the Indicated category.
History
1978 – Rosario acquired the Marlhill and Bell Creek Mine.
1982 – Amax (later Canamax) replaces Rosario as operator
1989 – 1991 – A total 30,924 ounces of gold were produced from ramp access.
2002 – Kinross tests feasibility of open-pit mining of crown pillar. Between 2003 and 2004 7,500 ounces was recovered from crown pillar by Porcupine Joint Venture.
Initial NI 43-101 Resource
On May 2, 2011, Lake Shore Gold released an initial NI 43-101 resource estimate for the Marlhill property. The estimated resources are at shallow depths, mainly above the 360 metre level. All resources at Marlhill were estimated assuming an underground mining scenario. Included in the estimate were indicated resources of 395,000 tonnes at an average grade of 4.52 grams per tonne for 57,400 ounces. The resource estimate was for the M1 vein only and was prepared using historical drill information. Lake Shore Gold has completed only limited drilling at Marlhill (four holes in the fall of 2010).
| Resource Category |
Tonnes |
Capped Grade (gpt)* |
Contained Gold (ozs.) |
| Measured |
- |
- |
- |
| Indicated |
395,000 |
4.52 |
57,400 |
| Measured & Indicated |
395,000 |
4.52 |
57,400 |
| Inferred |
- |
- |
- |
Notes:
- CIM definitions were followed for classifications of Mineral Resources.
- Mineral resources are estimated at a cut-off grade of 2.9 gpt/Au.
- Mineral resources are estimated using an average long-term gold price of US$1,125 per ounce and a US$/C$ exchange rate of 0.95.
- A minimum mining width of approximately two metres was used.
- Capped gold grades are used in estimating the mineral resource average grade.
- Sums may not add due to rounding.
- Mr. Reno Pressacco, M.Sc (A), P. Geo., is the Qualified Person for the resource estimate at Marlhill.
Exploration Potential
Previous diamond drilling programs conducted by former operators at Marlhill have been successful in tracing the M1 vein, the primary vein identified and mined previously, to a strike length of 500 m to 600 m and to a vertical depth of 400 m to 500 m from surface. The current resource for the Marlhill deposit, incorporating the M1 vein only, extends to an approximately depth of 360 metres, while historic mining extended to a depth of only 150 metres. Based on work to date, neither the depth extent of the M1 Zone a t Marlhill nor the extent along strike has been defined. The Company also believed that there also exists the opportunity to discover additional en-ehelon vein systems on the property. Drilling at Marlhill, primarily to pursue the depth potential of the orebody is ongoing currently with one drill. The mineralization at Marlhill has is located within 700 – 800 metres of the Bell Creek Mine, making it readily accessible using the Bell Creek Mine infrastructure.