Santa Fe Metals Corp., the new company behind the test-hole drilling of the Sully group of claims near Fort Steele, announced late Monday that they had reached a hole depth of 1,336 meters below the drill collar elevation. This is equivalent to a vertical depth of 1,290 below drill collar elevation and within range of the predicted depth of the target ‘gravity anomaly’.
Previous test holes seeking this anomaly last spring had gone off target, as Santa Fe Minerals President Scott Broughton explained that a drill steel can bend like a spaghetti noodle and miss the target entirely.
This time, enhanced drill stabilization techniques are being employed to minimize drillhole deviation and surveys show that the hole is on course towards its target.
Brougton says things are getting exciting with this test-hole. It has advanced some 400 meters in the past week. Paul Ransom, P.Geo., a familiar name in local mineral exploration who was involved in the Sullivan Deeps project near Kimberley several years ago, is the project manager and the company’s qualified person.
A recent press release from Santa Fe reports that Ransom has noted “several recent intersections of disseminated sulphides in Fort Steele quartz arenite, including pyrrhotite occurring in grain clusters from 1 to 7mm and trace chalcopyrite.
These intersections do not necessarily relate to the SEDEX target and no observations in the drill core to date account for the Sully gravity or magnetic anomalies. Recent structural changes have been observed at depth that are indicative of large-strain occurring in the rocks and these may be a precursor to a major structural break below which the Sully target is postulated to occur. Drilling operations are ongoing to test the target.”