Mining News: Romios finds deposit near Galore Creek

Junior reports values as high as 6.21 percent copper, 2.2 g/t gold and 20.7 g/t silver in samples from its new Dirk discovery

Rose Ragsdale

For Mining News

Romios Gold Resources Inc. Nov. 11 reported the discovery of significant copper, gold and silver mineralization on its Dirk Property located about 37 kilometers, or 24 miles, southeast of NovaGold Resources Inc.-Teck Resources Ltd.’s giant Galore Creek deposit and 7 kilometers, or 4 miles, northwest of Romios’ Newmont Lake Property in northwestern British Columbia.

Only two zones, Dirk and Telena, of a number of mineralized zones indentified on the newly discovered Dirk property have been sampled to date. A total of 15 samples were collected from the Dirk zone consisting of eight 1.0 meter-long (3.28 feet) contiguous chip samples, one 3.0 meter-long (9.84 feet) continuous chip sample and six representative grab samples, the Toronto-based junior said. The eight, 1-meter chip samples consist of bornite, covellite and chalcopyrite in irregular, discontinuous, resistively weathered veins cutting large, silicified limestone rafts within the syenite intrusive complex. The eight samples averaged 2.9 percent copper and 0.64 percent gold over the full eight meters (26.24 feet). 

The 3-meter continuous chip sample was taken from a mineralized section that contains disseminated to coarse, clotty chalcopyrite and bornite, which exhibits garnet and epidote alteration and extends for 15 meters before it disappears under an extensive cover of snow. The sample came from a second mineralized section of the Dirk zone that assayed 6.21 percent copper and 0.57 grams per metric ton gold.

Two of the representative grab samples of altered and mineralized limestone and syenite assayed 3.08 percent copper and 1.39 g/t gold and 2.38 percent copper and 2.06 g/t gold respectively.

Romios said the Telena zone exhibits styles of high-grade copper and gold mineralization within a syenitic dyke swarm similar to that observed at the Dirk zone. Copper mineralization occurs as fine, stockworking veinlets, coarse clots and disseminations of bornite and chalcopyrite within the potassium-feldspar megacrystic to trachyitic syenite dykes. Stringers of chalcopyrite up to 5 percent by volume associated with a bornite-cemented breccia along a shear zone are exposed on a 40-meter high cliff face on the property.

A representative grab sample from this area assayed 2.07 percent copper and 0.97 g/t gold. Contiguous chip samples collected along a 24-meter (78.74 feet) length of the Telena zone (16 samples-each sample, one to two meters in length) averaged 0.74 percent copper and 0.33 g/t gold. Within this zone, a 7.0-meter (22.96 feet) section averaged 2.0 percent copper and 0.71 g/t gold which, in turn, contained two sections, each one meter in length, that assayed 3.55 percent copper, 1.38 g/t gold and 16.2 g/t silver, and 5.69 percent copper, 2.2 g/t gold and 20.7 g/t silver respectively.

Romios’ Galore Creek Area Project consists of nine properties, including options for a total of 25,826 hectares, or 62,241 acres. Romios’ most advanced properties include the Trek, Newmont Lake, JW and Royce/Porc properties.

The sampling program on the Dirk property was carried out during the summer of 2009 as part of exploration of mineralized zones across Romios’ Galore Creek area properties, including a C$1.5 million diamond drilling program that tested the Trek and Newmont Lake properties. Romios reported drill results for Trek and Newmont Lake Sept. 28 that showed widespread copper-gold mineralization intersected in all 13 drill holes. The junior has estimated 1.4 million tonnes of high grade NI 43-101 inferred resources at the Newmont Lake property.

Geology similar to area giants

Since late 2004, Romios has systematically acquired an extensive land position between NovaGold-Teck’s Galore Creek Project and Barrick Gold’s Eskay Creek Mine Property. In 2005, NovaGold estimated resources of 7.4 million ounces of gold, 117.1 million ounces of silver and 8.5 billion pounds of copper for the massive copper-gold-silver Galore Creek Project. All mineralized zones on that property remain open to further expansion.

Barrick Gold’s Eskay Creek closed in the first half of 2008 after 13 years of operation. Annual mine production of 320,784 ounces of gold and 15.5 million ounces of silver had run its course when the mine shut down.

A recent geological map published by the British Columbia Ministry of Energy & Mines suggests the underlying rocks on Romios’ claims may be the same age as those hosting the porphyry copper-gold-silver deposits at NovaGold-Teck’s Galore Creek Project, the junior said.

A dyke swarm trends northeast across the Dirk property and has been traced for about 3 kilometers, or nearly 2 miles, along strike and about 1 kilometer, or more than half mile in width where snow and ice cover allow outcrop to be exposed.

On Oct. 31, a total of 26 new claims encompassing an area of about 9,874 hectares, or 24,400 acres, were staked to cover extensions of the Dirk property mineral trend.

“The discovery of the Dirk and Telena zones on the Dirk property represents the second significant discovery of copper-gold mineralization made during the last 2 years on our properties,” said Romios President Tom Drivas in a statement.

“The company intends to initiate an aggressive exploration program consisting principally of airborne and ground geophysical surveys, grid sampling, mapping and diamond drilling during the summer of 2010 on the Dirk property in addition to continuing systematic exploration on the Trek property,” Drivas said.

“We are very excited about the potential of the Dirk and Trek properties and the similarity of the mineralization and the geological setting to the other major ore bodies in British Columbia, and we look forward with enthusiasm to the forthcoming exploration season,” he added.