28 Jun 2021

Victor (Vic) French, President & COO of Puddle Pond Resources (PPR), is pleased to announce the staking of an additional 85 claims (Licence# 033104M) at its Lake Bond VMS (Volcanogenic Massive Sulphide) Property, located less than 10 km from the Trans-Canada Highway close to the town of Badger.  The new claims cover a series of NE-SW and ENE-WSW structures that appear to control the distribution of the VMS mineralization in the Lake Bond area.  Comprised of both an extensive zone of VMS stockwork alteration/mineralization and a series of massive sulphide lenses, the Lake Bond deposit hosts ore reserves (non-compliant NI-43-101) of 1.28 million tons grading 2.12% Zn and 0.31% Cu (Consolidated Morrison Explorations Ltd., 1977).  Historical diamond drill intersections from the Lake Bond VMS deposit (New Jersey Zinc, 1956) include:

In the VMS stockwork zone:

97.54 metres of 2.62% Zn and 0.18% Cu starting at a depth of ~70 metres (DDH 56-27)

83.82 metres of 2.48% Zn and 0.29% Cu starting at a depth of ~78 metres (DDH 56-29)

In the massive sulphide lenses:

12.68 metres of 2.07% Zn, 2.80% Cu, and 5.93 g/t Ag starting at a depth of ~4 metres (DDH 56-4)

6.74 metres of 2.97% Zn, 1.28% Cu, and 10.26 g/t Ag starting at a depth of ~32 metres (DDH 56-3)

The Lake Bond deposit is hosted by the Roberts Arm Group, one in a series of well-preserved Lower Ordovician volcano-sedimentary terranes that host numerous examples of base- and precious-metal rich VMS deposits, e.g., the Buchans Mine, which produced more than 16 million tonnes of high-grade, polymetallic (Cu-Zn-Pb-Ag-Au) ore and the Gullbridge Mine with historic reserves of 4.35 Mt grading 1.24% Cu.

In addition to the large tonnage deposit of Zn-Cu mineralization discovered by New Jersey Zinc Exploration Company (Map 1) there are numerous other surface occurrences of VMS mineralization on the property: e.g., massive sulphide with 2.50% Cu and 13.0 g/t Ag and stockwork with 1.59% Cu, 0.74% Pb, 4.40% Zn, and 22.8 g/t Ag (surface rock samplesProminex Resource Corp., 2012).  In addition, several significant geophysical targets remain untested (e.g., the large IP/Chargeability anomaly identified in 1999 by Celtic Minerals Ltd. approximately 2 km to the south of Lake Bond (Map1).

With the new staking, Puddle Pond Resources now owns more than 7,200 hectares (>72 km2) of contiguous claims that cover the strike extensions of the highly prospective Roberts Arm Group submarine volcanics that host the Lake Bond deposit (Map 1).  The Lake Bond claims group represents the cornerstone of PPR’s extensive portfolio of seven, high-quality VMS properties.

Gold mineralization is also present on the Lake Bond property in the form of narrow quartz-arsenopyrite veinlets that are similar in nature to the “orogenic-type” style of gold mineralization that is the focus of intensive exploration activity in the “Central Newfoundland Gold Belt”.  Located just east of Skull Lake the “Lake Bond West Gold” occurrence (Map 1) returned an assay of 4g/t Au (Hannah, 1955).  Nearby examples of this “orogenic-type” style of gold mineralization include the “Golden Promise” Property (Map 1) currently being explored by Great Atlantic Resources Corp., for which a 43-101 compliant mineral resource estimate of 119,900 oz. gold was reported in 2018. 

Although the search for additional copper-zinc-silver-rich, VMS-style mineralization remains the primary focus at Lake Bond, the presence of “orogenic-style” gold mineralization presents an important additional target for Puddle Pond’s upcoming summer exploration program.

Map 1.  The Lake Bond Volcanogenic VMS deposit (VMS, triangle symbol) and the Lake Bond West Gold occurrence (Au, star symbol) represent the two major types of mineralization found on Puddle Pond’s newly expanded Lake Bond Property.  A large, untested IP/Chargeability anomaly with showings of VMS-style alteration/mineralization is located about 2 km south of Lake Bond.

References:

Celtic Minerals Ltd. (2000): Second Year Assessment Report on the Skull Hill – Lake Bond Property, Central Newfoundland. [GeoFile# NFLD/2791]

Consolidated Morrison Explorations Ltd. (1977): Reid Lot 50 (Lake Bond), Ore Reserves, Main Zone. [GeoFile #012H01/0552]

Hannah, J.R. (1955): Geology and drilling data, NTS 12B/09, 12H/01, 12A/16, and 02E/06. British Newfoundland Exploration Limited Unpublished report, 54 pages. [GeoFile# NFLD/2156]

Hannah, J.R. (1956): New Jersey Zinc DDH assay, Assessment File. [GeoFile #012H/01/0138]

Prominex Resource Corp. (2012): Reid Lot 50 Copper-Zinc Property, Assessment Report. [GeoFile #012H/01/2201]

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