Juniors still finding major gold deposits in Kirkland: companies are finding gold deposits extend beyond the reach of existing an historical mines. The under-explored surface right in town is no less promising.

Kirkland Lake -- Searching for gold deposits in the shadows of old head frames has never been taken more seriously as gold prices continue to climb. The Kirkland Lake mining camp is buzzing with exploration, drilling, and acquisitions.

Vault Minerals Inc. has begun the first phase of a 5,000-metre diamond drill program on their Kirkland Gold Project, which is comprised of six patented mining claims located in the heart of the mining camp, as well as five separate property agreements, totalling 29 claim units. As the property is adjacent to the historic and once gold producing Lakeshore and Wright-Hargreaves mines, the company has spent the summer months compiling data and 3-D modeling of historical work on the property.

Dan McCormack, vice-president of exploration, says the majority of gold produced out of the mining camp is from the Kirkland Lake-Larder Lake break. Splays off the break, with north and south trending zones, have the potential to host gold.

"Given the historical compilation that we did, we've been successful in finding a few of these alteration zones and intercepts" which will be the focus of the $1-million drill program, he says.

McCormack emphasized that in the past, much of the exploration has been from underground, because the town built up so quickly around the mine sites in the 1930s. Little or no surface exploration was performed.

He expects this first phase to be completed by the end of January 2006, because the drilling is occurring right in town with one shift only.

Meanwhile, Queenston Mining Inc., owner of 14,000 hectares in three townships east of Kirkland Lake, has recently completed the first phase of their drill program at the Upper Beaver Mine in Gauthier Township. At one of four former gold-producing mines on the Queenston property, 20 holes were drilled earlier this year totalling to 8,300 m at a cost of about $500,000, says president and CEO Charles Page.

Results highlight hole UB05-16, which intersects significant gold zones assaying 12.5 grams/tonne of gold with 1.1 per cent copper over a core length of 23.6 m, states a company report.

Queenston regards it as its "best exploration hole drilled in the Kirkland Lake camp over the past 20 years," occurring 570 m below surface and 190 m below the deepest level of the mine. The hole contains two subzones as well. Also, five other gold zones were intersected higher in the hole.

Page describes the Upper Beaver as an old mine that produced in the early '20s and '70s.

"We're finding this new gold system underneath the old mine and adjacent to it," he says.

He adds that the mineralization appears a bit wider and higher grade than what was previously mined.

Presently, the company is in its second phase of drilling, which will total to 7,000 m.

One hole (UB05-21) was described as high-grade, intersecting three previous zones from phase one, and cutting a new gold-copper vein called the "Lower Gauthier Zone."

By adding a second drill, Page expects phase two will be completed before the Christmas break.

These are the early days, but Page is impressed with the results and the continuity of the mineralization from hole to hole. "We're well on our way to building up a new resource for this project and if it says together for another few phases of drilling, I think we could have something of significance," he says. Approximately 65 kilometres west of Kirkland Lake in Matachewan, Northgate Minerals Corporation has just completed its acquisition of Young-Davidson Mines Limited, and with it 11,000 acres of land. Officials are gearing up for a $3-million diamond drill program in the new year. The Vancouver-based company, which owns the 300,000-ounces-per-year producing Kemess gold mine in northern British Columbia, will focus on proving up inferred resources as well as exploring other parts of the property.

Historically, there were two mines on the Matachewan property. One is an open-pit with almost half a million oz. of gold measured and indicated resources, the other is underground, with slightly more than one million oz. of inferred gold resources, according to a press release.

Chris Rockingham, vice-president of business development and exploration, says the plan will be to bring as much of that inferred into a higher confidence level that has been measured and indicated.

"So that will be the thrust of a good percentage of the drilling," he says.

There will also be some exploration within the same rock type that hosts the majority of those resources.

"We're optimistic to significantly expand the resource and develop a mine," he says.

www.vaultminerals.com

www.queenston.ca

www.northgateminerals.com

By ADELLE LARMOUR

Northern Ontario Business