Matamec Explorations Inc is exploring for precious metals on its 100% owned Sakami Property. The property is located in the James Bay region of northern Quebec approximately 570 kilometres north of Val d’Or and 900 kilometres north northwest of Montreal.
The property is easily accessible from Val d’Or by travelling north on a paved provincial highway for 250 kilometres to the mining town of Matagami and then following the paved James Bay road for 544 kilometres to the Radisson junction. From there an all season gravel road extends east for 56 kilometres to the north end of Lake Sakami where boat access is available to all parts of the property. Alternatively, helicopters are available from Radisson located approximately 80 kilometre northwest of the property. The property lies within Hydro-Quebec’s James Bay development area and there is a major power line located within five kilometres of the property’s northern boundary. Matamec maintains an office in Val d’Or which is a major service and supply centre for the mining industry.
In total the property consists of 237 mineral claims and one exploration permit and covers 18,480 hectares
The property straddles the structural contact between the Opinaca and La Grande sub-provinces of the Archean age Superior structural province. This is a major structural corridor that occurs on surface as a 100 kilometre long “S” shape feature trending northeast to southwest. The Sakami Property covers approximately thirty-five kilometres of this structure, which is up to 500 metres wide on the property. Since 1998 Matamec has made a number of new gold discoveries within or near this structural zone.
To date most exploration work has focussed on Zone 25 where stratiform gold mineralization has been found hosted by a sequence of strongly silicified quartzites, arkoses and felsic dykes within paragneiss of the Opinaca sub-province. This mineralized horizon occurs as an antiform-synform pair that plunges moderately to the southwest. Matamec drilling has intersected it within a surface area of approximately 150 metres by 160 metres, and to a depth of 220 metres. The thickest mineralization is developed within the hinge zone of the two interpreted folds with drill intercepts including: 2.51 grams per tonne (g/t) Au over 54.65 metres drill width from EX-10 and 6.40 g/t Au over 12.67 metres drill width in EX-22. A broad “envelope” of lower grade mineralization of approximately one gram per tonne gold characterizes the zone and encloses higher grade sections typically ranging from 1 to 3 grams per tonne Au. Narrow high grade intervals occur throughout the horizon often associated with discrete quartz veins containing pyrrhotite and tourmaline (e.g. drill hole EX-31 which assayed 8.03 g/t Au over 3.82 metres near the hinge of the synform fold). Gold mineralization occasionally extends into the enclosing paragneiss of the Opinaca where it is also commonly associated with quartz veins. The mineralized horizon is open both down plunge and laterally along the fold limbs and there are indications that, to the northwest, it is extending back to surface.
Nearby at Zone 26, gold mineralization is hosted by a sulphidic banded iron formation present in mafic volcanics of the La Grande sub-province. This zone occurs within the interpreted hinge of a southwest moderately plunging syncline and has been traced by drilling for 140 metres along the fold axis and to a depth of 185 metres below surface. Seven drill holes have tested the zone and have intersected inconsistent gold mineralization with the best interval assaying 9,22 g/t Au over 12.55 metres. This high grade intersection occurs proximal to high grade sections intersected in Zone 25 (EX-31).
Both Zone 25 and Zone 26 occur within fifty metres of the contact between the two sub-provinces.
Since the beginning, exploration works had been confined on zones 23, 25 and 26 on the sector called " La Pointe ". Recently, other exploration works, however still preliminary but very promising already brought back very interesting information and results in sectors JR, Île and Sipanikaw, in the central part and the northern part of the property.
In sector JR, 10 kilometers north of sector La Pointe, in addition to the showing JR itself, a pyritized quartz vein brought back several gold results between 4.8 and 9.6 g/t Au. In the same sector, the only survey in an IP-Mag anomaly measuring 450 meters in length brought back an intersection of 6.00 meters containing 2.03 g/t Au.
More to north, between 10 and 30 kilometers north of the Pointe sector, exploration works also brought back positive results. In the Île sector a pyrrhotite and pyrite mineral-bearing zone of one meter in width, brought back 5170 ppb Au. In the Sipanikaw sector, a mylonitized and pyritized zone, measuring ten meters in width, was updated and brought back several anomalous values going to 857 ppb Au. In the same sector Sipanikaw-North and 4.5 km north that preceding sample, a sample from a quartz vein brought back 757 ppb Au. 150 meters North-East of this vein, a pyrite and of pyrrhotite mylonitized and mineralized zone brought back 723 ppb Au.