Nov 21 2006
Avalon Ventures has announced that it has acquired mineral rights to 880 acres of land covering the southwestern part of the East Kemptville tin-copper-zinc-rare metal deposit under a Special Licence granted recently by the Province of Nova Scotia. The Company has also acquired a second contiguous exploration licence covering an additional 1440 acres along strike to the southwest, in an area known as Ike's Ridge, bringing the Company's combined landholdings in the area to 2320 acres.
The Company was attracted to the East Kemptville area because of its potential to host resources of Indium, a rare metal now in high demand due to its use in thin film coatings in flat screen TV's and computer monitors. Indium prices reached a high of US$1060/kg in 2005 and it is currently offered at US$750/kg. Primary indium supplies are presently constrained as the metal is only produced as a by-product of the smelting of zinc concentrates. One of the few geological environments where indium is enriched is in greisen-type tin-zinc-copper deposits such as that which was historically mined (primarily for tin) at East Kemptville, Nova Scotia.
Little direct evidence of indium enrichment in the mineralized zones at East Kemptville existed until 2005 when the Company undertook analytical work specifically for indium on drill cores archived at the N.S. Department of Natural Resources ("NSDNR") core library. This work revealed the presence of highly anomalous indium values of up to 120 ppm associated with disseminated zinc mineralization from the Baby Zone, a mineralized greisen located peripheral to the main tin deposit. Anomalous levels of other rare metals such as tungsten, gallium and germanium were also detected in the Baby Zone samples. The Special Licence covers the Baby Zone area as well as potential new zones or extensions to the southwest.
The Baby Zone has been described by NSDNR geologists as a relatively high-grade tin satellite deposit that was developed and mined for a brief period shortly before the operation closed in 1992. Historical resources in this deposit were not separately reported although the tin grade was apparently higher than the 0.206% Sn average grade for the total resource estimate that was in the public domain at the time of mine closure. It has also been reported anecdotally that the copper-zinc sulphide content in this deposit was higher than what was typical of the main tin deposit, which is significant with respect to its potential for hosting high concentrations of indium. The Company's plans for the project in the short term are to complete a detailed compilation of historical data for the project area including re-logging, assaying and mineralogical study of additional drill core from the Baby Zone that may be archived at the NSDNR core storage facility. This work will be carried out by Hudgetec Consulting (Bruce Hudgins, P.Geo.), Dartmouth N.S. Once the compilation work is completed, a follow-up drilling program will be designed to establish a new resource estimate for the Baby Zone and test other target areas along strike to the southwest.
Surface rights to the mine area are still retained by a local subsidiary of BHP Billiton, which is continuing to conduct environmental remediation work at the site. The exploration target area was carefully selected to ensure that the Company's future exploration activities would not conflict with this work. The Company looks forward to closely co-operating with BHP Billiton personnel. Ultimately, the discovery of a new indium-rich tin-zinc-copper resource could lead to new opportunities to revitalize this former mining area to the benefit of all stakeholders, and the local community in Yarmouth County.
http://www.avalonventures.com