Each one in plain English, with the numbers worked through for a shareholder.
14 Nov 2011drilling result▲ Good
Starfield reported its 2011 Ferguson Lake program: three holes totaling 1,866 m. FL11-430 hit three massive sulphide lenses in the West Zone (e.g. 7.5 m at 1.97% Cu, 0.66% Ni). FL11-432 extended the deep 119 Zone Extension mineralization 350 m southwest, with four significant intervals at about 1,096-1,126 m depth (e.g. 5.96 m at 1.33% Cu, 0.73% Ni). FL11-431 found only weak copper (up to 631 ppm over 3.91 m). Stillwater drilling assays are still awaited. The boilerplate now calls Moonlight the 'Superior Mine Project' and says one Nevada gold property is under option to another company, down from two.
Starfield began drilling the West Zone extension at Ferguson Lake, expected to run until early September 2011, but bad weather has so far prevented drilling at Stillwater in Montana, which is expected to start the following week. RPA's update of the 2008 scoping study has no completion date, and a 9,000 lb sample is being shipped to SGS for hydromet pilot plant testing. DRA Americas has begun updating the 43-101 study on the Montana chrome assets, due in the fall. This continues several open threads; the scoping study update was not previously known to be underway.
Starfield detailed a 2010 exploration program in the Y Lake area, 20 to 25 km south of the Ferguson Lake deposit: five planned holes totaling about 1,800 metres, with drill crews expected to mobilize within a couple of weeks and results expected in the fall. This follows up the earlier call for more Y Lake drilling. The company's description of its Nevada assets now reads two gold properties leased or joint ventured, down from eight in earlier releases (the filing does not explain the change).
Starfield reported a second round of Engels drilling at Moonlight (four holes, 1,497 ft) plus an airborne geophysical survey. Hole ME10-05 returned 91 ft of 5.09% copper and 68.5 g/t silver, including 55 ft of 7.99% copper, and ME10-04 had 84 ft of 2.04% copper. This builds on the strong 2009 Engels results. Management says it will do a more intensive drilling program 'as soon as funds are available', so the next step depends on funding.
Starfield released silver assays from the same two Engels holes at Moonlight, with intervals up to 87.5 g/t silver (hole ME09-02) and minor gold intercepts of 1.5 to 3.6 g/t, which it calls an additional metal credit alongside the copper. Assays for the third hole are still pending, and follow-up drilling is still planned for next spring.
Starfield reported first assays from its three-hole Engels Mine program at the Moonlight copper project in California (acquired with Nevoro), the drilling announced on October 29. Hole ME09-02 averaged 3.26% copper over the first 74.3 ft, with a 9.7 ft interval at 11.25%; ME09-01 averaged 1.88% over the first 140 ft. Results for the third hole are not reported, the company says it does not yet know the size of the mineralization, and further drilling is planned for next spring after a winter geology review.
Starfield gave an exploration update on the Stillwater project in Montana (45 patented and 763 unpatented claims) acquired through Nevoro, saying an airborne survey shows its VEZ platinum-group target is about 12 km long, mostly on its claims. Previous sampling on one segment reportedly averaged 4.45 g/t platinum and 10.96 g/t palladium over 7.6 m. Management says it will spend the winter reviewing data before planning next year's work, so no drilling is announced.
Starfield plans two drill holes in November at the Engels Mine target on the Moonlight copper project in California, acquired with Nevoro, to follow up 2007 drilling that hit several intervals above 4% copper. The release cites an existing NI 43-101 open-pit copper resource at Moonlight, but this filing gives no new resource figures.
The Thanda-funded diamond drilling has started at Ferguson Lake: seven holes are planned over four weeks at seven high-priority targets, beginning at anomaly M4, with Starfield operating the program. The release also lists the three assets acquired from Nevoro (Stillwater in Montana, Moonlight in California, eight Nevada gold properties, where Golden Predator can earn 51% by spending US$1.5 million within 30 months of a definitive agreement) and says the company is still determining next steps for them.
Starfield released the final 2008 core assays: hole FL08-414 returned 9.27 g/t platinum, which management says extends the high-grade low-sulphide platinum-group mineralization further west. Gold up to 0.76 g/t at Y Lake and a diamond in a till sample were also reported, and the company says additional drilling is warranted at Y Lake and Grizzly. Management says a resource study now underway should upgrade more inferred resource to indicated, and the new data will help it begin building a resource model for the low-sulphide zone, which continues an earlier open question; no resource figure is given.
Starfield ended its 2008 drilling on November 3 with 45 holes and 19,092 m, and released assays for 13 more holes. West Zone Extension hole FL08-407 hit 25.5 m of massive sulphide at 0.63% nickel and 1.18% copper, while the other extension hole, FL08-410, had no significant results and may indicate faulting; more drilling there is planned. The deeper platinum-palladium zone is still not in the resource model, so whether it can become a resource is undecided.
For the quarter to August 31, 2008, Starfield spent $11.1 million on exploration and equipment ($18.5 million for six months) and held about $17.0 million of cash. The CFO said this is enough to sustain operations most of the way through 2009 without raising more capital. Drilling totals 39 holes and 16,525 m, with one rig on the Y Lake Trend and the other moving to a new target, the Grizzly Trend, about 4 km south of the West Zone.
Starfield released assays from nine more 2008 holes; the company described results in the deeper platinum-palladium zone as 'mixed', with some very high-grade intercepts and some mediocre ones, while the West Zone massive sulphide infill holes were described as going well (e.g. FL08-393 had 13.46 m at 1.36% copper and 0.92% nickel). Phase 1 is near completion with 14,412 m drilled in 39 holes, and the goal of adding about 15 million indicated tonnes is now dated to December 31, 2009.
Starfield released the first 2008 assays, from 10 West Zone holes (3,662 m), which management said showed strong continuity and no surprises; for example FL08-384 had 16.10 m at 1.44% copper and 0.84% nickel. The current resource is stated as 44.2 million tonnes, 15.3 million of it indicated, with a goal of adding about 15 million more indicated tonnes over two years. Assay turnaround is about 10 weeks and expected to stay that slow through 2008.
Starfield released the remaining assay results from 15 holes of its 2007 program, saying most holes confirmed the continuity, thickness and grade of the known massive sulphide in the eastern West Zone (for example hole FL07-378 had 11.60 m with 1.03% copper and 0.76% nickel). It also said 26 holes (10,632 m) have been drilled in 2008 so far, but a laboratory backlog has delayed 2008 assays, so the early-August results it had flagged have not yet been released.
Starfield reported its first quarter to May 31, 2008: exploration spending of about $7.4 million (vs $2.1 million a year earlier), administrative costs of $0.6 million, and cash of $24.5 million, which includes the $20.0 million May placement. It also said over 6,000 metres have been drilled since April and that it plans drilling on two new targets, the North Zone (about 2,000 m from mid-July) and the Y Lake trend (a further 2,000 m afterwards). First 2008 drill results are expected in early August, which is slightly earlier than the 'late July' given before, and the 2008 program is now described as a 20,000-metre program.
Starfield filed the full scoping study report on SEDAR (summarised in the March 20 release) and said Phase 1 of the 2008 PGE drilling is underway, with first assay results expected in late July. No new figures beyond what was already announced.
A preliminary assessment (scoping study) by Scott Wilson RPA on the 100%-owned Ferguson Lake project showed a pre-tax IRR of 27% at March 17, 2008 prices (US$14.25 nickel, US$3.75 copper), with capital costs of CDN$1.35 billion. At the base case prices (US$8 nickel, US$2 copper), the pre-tax IRR is 13.4% and NPV is $321 million; the study is preliminary and includes inferred resources, and management says it plans to skip a prefeasibility study and go to a full feasibility study expected by early 2010.
Check assays on 40 samples confirmed the earlier platinum and palladium results, and three intervals returned small amounts of rhodium (0.009-0.021 g/t), resolving the pending rhodium question from February. The company set out a 2008 plan of about 15,000 metres of drilling in Phase 1 (April-September) and 5,000 metres in Phase 2 late in the year, plus a surface exploration program on its 207 surrounding claims for kimberlite and gold potential.
Starfield released complete assay results from the 19-hole 2007 PGE program, with many intervals of high platinum and palladium grades, though two holes (FL07-369 and FL07-372) had no significant mineralization. The company plans 40-50 new holes (20,000-30,000 metres) with three rigs from April to September 2008, 75% in the low-sulphide PGE zone, which it says should permit an updated resource estimate; rhodium assays are still pending.
First results from five holes of the 2007 PGE program at Ferguson Lake showed significant platinum and palladium intervals (e.g. hole FL07-363 had 1.35 m at 39.25 g/t platinum). Full results from the 19-hole program are expected early 2008, and the scoping study is now expected in spring 2008 because it will be amended to reflect the PGE potential.
Starfield started its fall 2007 platinum-group-element (PGE) drilling at its Ferguson Lake property in Nunavut, aiming for 12,000-15,000 metres (about 45 holes) with a $4.5 million budget funded from cash on hand. The target is a low-sulphide, high-grade PGE zone below the known 43 million-tonne massive sulphide resource; 65 holes so far are too widely spaced to calculate a resource.
