More encouraging results from IVR project near Meadowbank; additional drill rigs and new exploration camp mobilized
Press Release –
August 25, 2014
Stock Symbol: AEM (NYSE and TSX)
TORONTO, Aug. 25, 2014 /PRNewswire/ – Agnico Eagle Mines Limited (NYSE:AEM, TSX:AEM) (“Agnico Eagle” or the “Company”) is pleased to provide an update on its summer 2014 exploration activities at the new IVR project, located 50 kilometres northwest of the Meadowbank mine in Nunavut. The Company last reported results from this project in a news release dated July 30, 2014. Highlights include:
- Continuing expansion of IVR discovery – Exploration drilling in July and August has expanded the scope of the mineralization at the IVR property, which has now reached four zones. Since the beginning of the project a total of 102 drill holes (18,702 metres) have been completed (2013-2014). In the R zone, the best intercept in this period was 5.6 grams per tonne (“g/t”) gold (capped) over 12.8 metres estimated true width including 11.7 g/t gold (capped) over 4.6 metres.
- New Whale Tail zone discovery – The best intercepts from this period in the Whale Tail zone include 5.5 g/t gold (capped) over 19.8 metres estimated true width including 7.1 g/t gold (capped) over 9.6 metres estimated true width, 8.1 g/t gold (capped) over 21.6 metres estimated true width including 27.3 g/t gold (capped) over 4.5 metres and 7.2 g/t gold (capped) over 7.5 metres estimated true width at 289 metres vertical depth.
- Gold-bearing boulders discovered – A 600 metre long boulder field containing large blocks of quartz vein material (locally with sulphides and visible gold) has been located approximately 3.5 kilometres west of the main IVR area. A drill rig has been mobilized to test this target area.
- Second phase of drilling is underway – An estimated 20,000 metre drill program is expected to be completed by mid-September.
“The new IVR discovery has yielded some very exciting results for Agnico Eagle this summer,” said Sean Boyd , President and Chief Executive Officer. “We are particularly interested in the project because of its proximity to our Meadowbank mine and mill, which is currently our best cash flow generator,” added Mr. Boyd.
IVR Project – 2014 Drilling Expands New Mineralized Zones
The 408-square-kilometre IVR property is located within Inuit Owned Land and a 100% interest was acquired in April 2013 subject to a mineral exploration agreement with Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated. The property is located approximately 50 kilometres northwest of the Meadowbank mine in Nunavut.
Agnico Eagle’s recent work has revealed the potential for multiple mineralized zones within a 2-kilometre-wide northeast-southwest corridor that can be traced along strike for at least 10 kilometres. Based on the current information, all four structures are open in all directions including at depth.
Exploration drilling in July and August 2014 on the IVR property has resulted in significant expansion of the Whale Tail zone, which is now recognized over a strike length of more than 1,000 metres (and remains open in all directions), and the discovery of boulders containing visible gold at more than 3.5 kilometres west of the current drilling area.
The most recent intercept in the “I” zone is hole IVR14-050 that returned 7.6 g/t gold over 3.3 metres at 37 metres depth.
In the “R” zone, hole IVR14-057 encountered a wide intercept of 5.6 g/t gold over 12.8 metres at 159 metres depth including 11.7 g/t gold over 4.6 metres at 164 metres depth.
Most of the recent drilling activity has been focused on the newly discovered Whale Tail zone. Hole IVR14-054 intersected four apparently parallel zones grading respectively: 7.7 g/t gold over 6.5 metres at 52 metres below surface, 7.1 g/t gold over 9.6 metres at 104 metres below surface, 7.3 g/t gold over 5.4 metres at 115 metres below surface, and 3.1 g/t gold over 5.2 metres at 132 metres below surface. Across a 400 metre wide lake, Hole IVR14-058 intersected what is interpreted as the same structure 500 metres along strike to the northeast, grading 4.9 g/t gold over 16.7 metres at 109 metres depth including 8.1 g/t gold over 8.0 metres at 113 metres depth. 70 metres further to the east, hole IVR14-060 intersected 10.1 g/t gold over 3.8 metres at 86 metres depth.
More recently, one additional drill hole was added to the same section as drill hole IVR14-054 mentioned above to test the vertical continuity of the mineralization deeper in the same section. Hole IVR14-081 intersected 6.0 g/t gold over 23.7 metres at 122 metres depth including three higher grade intercepts of 7.0 g/t gold over 4.8 metres, 8.5 g/t gold over 5.7 metres and 8.3 g/t gold over 6.3 metres. Deeper in hole IVR14-081, another significant intercept returned 7.2 g/t gold over 7.5 metres at 289 vertical depth representing the deepest intercept so far on the project and demonstrating a good vertical continuity of the mineralization.
On the next section, 70 metres to the west of drill hole IVR14-054, hole IVR14-056 returned two intercepts grading 3.6 g/t gold over 9.0 metres at only 9 metres depth including 5.3 g/t gold over 4.5 metres and a second intercept of 7.3 g/t gold over 3.5 metres at 43 metres depth. On the next section, 70 metres to the west of drill hole IVR14-056, hole IVR14-079 returned an intercept grading 8.1 g/t gold over 21.6 metres at only 35 metres depth including 27.3 g/t gold over 4.5 metres. The assays results of the lower part of drill hole IVR14-079 as well as all the other drill holes completed along strike to the west and at depth are still pending.
All intercepts reported for the IVR project show capped grades over estimated true widths, based on a preliminary geological interpretation. Additional information about these and other drill intersections are included in the table below, while the drill collars are located on the IVR project map. The drill collar coordinates table can be found in the Appendix of this news release.
