by Greg Klein | Updated September 14, 2017

Results from Confederation Lake’s first regional state-of-the-art geophysics have prompted Pistol Bay Mining TSXV:PST to expand its presence in the VMS-rich northwestern Ontario greenstone belt. The news comes just two days after the company reported initial findings from the survey, a new resource estimate for one of the portfolio’s projects and potential joint venture interest.

For all that, the new claims “are just the first fruits” of a 2,100-line-kilometre airborne EM and magnetic survey over the property package’s eastern two-thirds, said CEO Charles Desjardins.

“We are seeing lots of new anomalies in the survey data, not just conductors but the IP effect anomalies as well, and Pistol Bay is going to have a busy few years exploring them all.”

The newly staked claims cover a 7.5-kilometre magnetic anomaly between the company’s Joy and Fredart claim groups. Including Joy and Fredart, the anomaly’s strike now stretches about 22 kilometres.

While previous EM surveys had found conductors along the magnetic trend, the VTEM-Plus identified four additional conductors ranging between 400 and 1,200 metres in length that have yet to be explored. “Most importantly, the Fredart A zone (also known as the Copperlode A zone), is expressed by conductors on the same magnetic trend as the newly staked anomalies,” Pistol Bay stated.

Fredart A holds an historic, non-43-101 estimate of 368,000 tonnes grading 1.56% copper and 33.6 g/t silver, the company stated. Among historic intervals of wide widths was a non-43-101 assay of 1.4% copper and 21.1 g/t silver over 40.42 metres, with a sub-interval of 2.67% copper and 48.3 g/t silver over 16.22 metres.

Like the four newly found anomalies, the Joy North anomaly hasn’t been drilled.

The airborne survey confirmed conductivity at all of the portfolio’s historic showings, zones and mineralized drill intercepts, Pistol Bay added. While analysis continues, data so far shows conductivity extending beyond known zones, along strike and in new clusters apart from known mineralization.

“Because of the large number of potential targets generated by the VTEM survey, we are considering inviting joint venture partners for all or parts of the Confederation Lake project,” Desjardins noted. “We have had early-stage discussions with potential joint venture partners. Once we’ve got our targets finalized, we will be entertaining proposals for joint ventures to advance this highly prospective property.”

Pistol Bay also filed a technical report for Garnet Lake, a Confederation Lake property that hosts the Fredart A zone. Updating an historic 2007 estimate for the Arrow zone, the 43-101 incorporates 20 additional holes. Using a base case 3% zinc-equivalent cutoff, an inferred category shows:

• 2.1 million tonnes averaging 0.72% copper, 5.78% zinc, 19.5 g/t silver and 0.6 g/t gold, for a zinc-equivalent grade of 8.5%

Contained amounts come to:

• 34.3 million pounds copper, 274 million pounds zinc, 1.33 million ounces silver and 41,000 ounces gold

Contingent on favourable geophysical and other data, the 43-101 recommends two 1,000-metre holes at Arrow to test for possible down-plunge extensions of the resource. The report also calls for another 3,000 metres on targets to be identified elsewhere on the Garnet property.

Prior to the newly staked claims Pistol Bay’s Confederation Lake portfolio held about 7,050 hectares. Last May the company signed an LOI to acquire the 496-hectare Copperlode property, about four kilometres along strike from Arrow.

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