Resource World Magazine

40 www.resourceworld.com A P R I L / M A Y 2 0 1 7 Mines following up Flin Flon VMS discovery by Ellsworth Dickson E ncouraged by its high-grade volcanic massive sulphide (VMS) discovery in October 2016 at its Pine Bay Project in the Flin Flon, Manitoba mining camp, Callinex Mines Inc. [CNX-TSXV; CLLXF- OTCQX] is busy with further diamond drilling. Callinex's predecessor, Callinan Mines, was founded in 1927 by Jack Callinan and has a major presence in Flin Flon. The nearby, producing HudBay Minerals 777 Mine went into production in 2004 on Callinan claims from which the com- pany received royalties. In 2011, Callinan Mines split into two companies: Callinan Royalties, since acquired by Altius Minerals; and Callinex Mines, which holds the exploration portfolio. The Flin Flon mining camp is one of the two top VMS mining camps in Canada; the other being Bathurst, New Brunswick where Callinex has two advanced-stage projects. VMS deposits, which formed mil- lions of years ago by minerals welling up through the floor of an ancient ocean, are polymetallic and host zinc, copper, lead, gold and silver. They often occur in clus- ters and such is the case for Flin Flon where 32 mines have accounted for 86 consecu- tive years of production. Callinex's high-grade discovery at Pine Bay last October included drill hole 284- 3-93-DPN which intersected 10.3 metres grading 13.1% zinc equivalent (6.0% zinc, 1.8 g/t gold, 60.4 g/t silver, 0.7% copper and 0.4% lead) by extending a pre- vious Placer Dome drill hole by 38 metres. This intersection included a higher grade interval over 4.2 metres of 20.8% Zn Eq. containing 11.8% zinc, 2.4 g/t gold, 73.8 g/t silver, 0.7% copper and 0.7% lead. Of note is that when Placer Dome drilled the original hole in 1993, that company's man- date was to discover a 30 million tonne VMS deposit at the Pine Bay Project. In an interview, Max Porterfield, President and CEO, told Resource World, "Our grades of gold at 1.88 g/t gold are typ- ical of grades at the Triple 7 and Lalor Lake mines. At Triple 7, silver grades are about 30 g/t; however, our discovery hole inter- sected 60 g/t silver, so twice that amount. The high precious metals content is indica- tive of a longer lived, larger system." Porterfield remarked that the Pine Bay property, like others in the camp in gen- eral, has had exploration dating back over 90 years. "It wasn't until recently that Pine Bay was explored at depth when Placer Dome theorized that there was potential for large a deposit at depth," he said. Bearing that in mind, Callinex is focused on discovering large VMS depos- its at depth. "Large discoveries with long mine lives, notably the Triple 7 Mine and the Lalor Lake Mine, were discov- ered below 800 metres vertical depth," Porterfield said. "In the immediate Flin Flon area, these vertical, deep deposits are much harder to detect with conventional ground EM surveys. The strategy we have deployed is based on the geology, geophys- ics and geochemistry. At Pine Bay, we completed stratigraphic drilling at regu- lar intervals, then used the geochemistry and borehole geophysics [Borehole Pulse ElectroMagnetic] as the tools to help vector towards mineralization." In 2016, Callinex drilled about 12,000 metres at Pine Bay. The current drilling pro- gram is testing the area in the vicinity of discovery hole 284-3-93-DPN along strike. Company geologists are of the view that this intersection may be at the edge of the min- eral system. The Callinex 6,300-hectare Pine Bay property has a geologically favourable environment with a large alteration zone spanning 1,100 metres long and up to 700 metres wide. Three stacked horizons host five mineralized zones including the historic 1.1 million tonne Pine Bay copper deposit. "With a limited mine life at Flin Flon and significant reclamation liabilities ahead, there is a clear need for HudBay to acquire additional ore," said Porterfield. HudBay's nearby processing facilities have less than four years of ore remaining after producing for nearly 90 consecutive years. "We are in the early stages of explora- tion and would like to find more high-grade mineralized zones. As it stands right now, the October 2016 discovery was an exciting achievement to demonstrate proof of con- cept," said Porterfield. Jason Levers, Project Geologist, examining diamond drill core from the Pine Bay VMS project at Callinex's facilities outside Flin Flon, Manitoba. Photo courtesy Callinex Mines Inc. MINING

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