Project Data

Claims: 64

Acres: 8,998.32  (14.06 mi²)

Hectares: 3641.49 (36.41km²)

---

Property center point coordinates:   
   

		Long. 75.525002 W	Lat. 48.616668 N
UTM	Zone 18	461306.28 m E	5384977.02 m N

Activity in the area

Exploration companies in the area:

• Laurentian Goldfields

end faq

Background

The Mercier project covers a northeast-trending alkaline intrusive body approximately 6 km long by 2-3 km wide. The property comprises 61 designated cells covering 3,641 ha, about 130 km east of Senneterre in NTS map sheets 32B11 and 32B12.

The intrusive complex was initially discovered during a regional airborne magnetic survey along the Grenville-Superior transition zone. Quebec Cartier Mining Company staked a bi-lobate area characterized by a high magnetic signature, and subsequent drilling outlined zones with high magnetite content. Rio Tinto Canadian Exploration optioned the project in 1974 and completed soil geochemistry, ground geophysics and a drill fence across the southern lobe of the intrusive, intercepting copper mineralization grading up to 0.6% Cu over 1.5 metres. It is important to note that only the last of three Rio Tinto holes targeting copper was actually sampled and assayed for copper over selected intervals, and none of holes were assayed for REE, thus the mineral potential of the drilled area remained largely untested.

Geology and exploration results

The Mercier project is centered on a bi-lobate alkaline intrusive (approx. 29 km2) in the transition zone of the Grenville Province. The geology of the complex is sketchy due to the limited availability of outcrops and diamond drill hole data. Lithologies intersected during the 2008 drilling program included mainly pyroxenites and gabbros in an equigranular to pegmatitic facies with abundant ultramafic and carbonatitic interlayers. Past exploration by Rio Tinto Exploration Canada consisted of six (6) short diamond drill holes in the complex, half of them to test its iron potential and the other half its copper potential. Drilling identified anomalous disseminated copper mineralization in the western portion of the southern lobe. None of the holes were investigated for rare earth element mineralization.

Between 2007 and 2010, Threegold conducted an extensive soil geochemistry program to outline copper, niobium and rare earth element (REE) targets tested earlier by the company’s first diamond drill program in 2008 (4,418 metres) and its subsequent program in 2010 (3,112 metres). The results from these programs confirmed the elevated REE content of the intrusive complex, with anomalous zones reaching up to 100 metres across.

end faq