Canadian company Kent Exploration Inc says its wholly-owned New Zealand subsidiary, Kent Exploration NZ Ltd, has had "significant" assay results returned from ore samples close to the Reefton Gold Project, on the West Coast.It last year began a
Canadian company Kent Exploration Inc says its wholly-owned New Zealand subsidiary, Kent Exploration NZ Ltd, has had "significant" assay results returned from ore samples close to the Reefton Gold Project, on the West Coast.
It last year began a geological mapping and sampling programme at the Alexander River mine, as part of its effort to earn a 70 percent interest in the project.
The 2669ha Alexander River gold prospect, 25km southeast of Reefton, lies in the southern part of the historic Reefton gold field, which once produced 10 million ounces of placer gold and two million ounces of lode gold.
The Alexander gold mine was reported to have produced 41,091 ounces of gold from 47,726 tonnes of quartz before running out of workers during World War 2 and closing in 1943.
Kent today reported assay results from the recently completed first phase trench sampling including 3.2m at 24.6 grams per tonne (g/t) gold, including 1.9 metres at 40.38 g/t gold in trench "F".
Trench "A" showed 6.4m at 6.87 g/t gold, including 3.2m at 12.91 g/t gold. And it told the Toronto Stock Exchange trench "K" sampled 8m at 10.56 g/t gold, with a much higher grade of 20.2g/t over 2.9m.
The Kent team took a total of 177 samples from 26 of the 28 historic Macraes trenches, and sent them to SGS Laboratories in New Zealand for assay.
Some of the historic sites were previously sampled by CRA in 1988, and the project was acquired by Macraes Mining, which estimated in 1993 that it had potential to host approximately 4m tonnes of ore, grading 5 g/t, or around 643,000 ounces.
Macraes drilled seven underground holes between 1993 and 1996, and reported a zone of ore, with some of it assaying at 3.85 g/t, and a smaller area at 9.8 g/t, but Kent has said it is not relying on historical estimates.
