Rankin Inlet (Sep 10/03) - New life has been breathed into a decade-old Kivalliq gold project.

The Committee Bay greenstone belt is believed to represent one of the largest unexplored greenstone belts in North America, with excellent gold potential.

The belt holds about 500,000 acres of land with prospective geology in the Committee Bay area west of the Melville Peninsula.

The project is currently controlled by a Canadian company, Committee Bay Resources Ltd., with head offices in Vancouver and Edmonton.

Committee Bay undertook drilling on the site in 1994, '96 and '97.

The property was taken public through the TSX Venture Exchange this past year in an attempt to raise funding for further exploration and development.

The move attracted the attention of the Johannesburg-based Gold Fields Ltd.

The South African company is one of the world's leading producers of precious metals, employing more than 49,000 workers.

The company has an annual attributable gold production of 4.1-million ounces.

Gold Fields Ltd. will invest $7.5 million into the project during the next four years to earn a 55 per cent interest in the joint venture.

There has been about $5 million spent on the property during the past 11 years.

The project area extends for 300 kilometres from Committee Bay (about 250 kilometres northeast of Baker Lake), trending northeast to the Crater Lake camp about 130 kilometres northwest of Repulse Bay.

Investor relations manager Bernie Kennedy says Committee Bay Resources Ltd. and its consultants, APEX Geoscience, recently conducted airborne surveys, till sampling and limited drilling on the property.

"Five-million dollars doesn't do much more than scratch the surface, but it has given us the indication that there's something more to find there," says Kennedy.

"The work has moved the project forward and brought us the attention of a company like Gold Fields which, to my knowledge, is not doing anything with any other group in Canada this year.

"Gold Fields paid for the $1-million worth of work done on the property this year."

Kennedy says the final results from this year's work will determine where the project goes from here.

"That's, basically, part of the exploration process. Every time you do a little bit of work, it helps determine what the next step is.

"This is a large property. And there are a number of separate properties within the larger area, all at different stages of exploration."

Kennedy says where the project goes next year depends on Gold Fields.

The company had a number of people on the property this year and Kennedy says they seemed fairly enthusiastic about the drill results.

"They congratulated us on the numbers because they were so good, but we still haven't heard from them as to their commitment for next year.

"We've also done some sampling for diamonds, but we haven't been able to discuss the results of those samples just yet.

"It will take a few months before we find out exactly what that's going to show for us."

Company raising its profile

Vice-president of exploration Dean McDonald says there's a lot of excitement in both companies concerning the latest results from the property.

"It's still very early and I certainly wouldn't want to suggest that we have a mine there," says McDonald.

"However, until recently, I was the manager for Hope Bay with Miramar and these are results comparable to that project.

"We only drilled six holes this summer at the three bluffs where we had the most encouraging results.

"There's still a lot of work to be done, but we're receiving calls from brokers and other people who want to look at other joint ventures with us, so it's certainly given the project and company of Committee Bay a much higher profile."

McDonald says the results of the tilt program for diamond exploration won't be in for another six to eight weeks.

He says the company is still waiting for the results of its surface sampling (rocks from outcrop and boulders).

"At that point we'll see how promising our properties are for kimberlite.

"We will then be able to develop some targets and release information regarding our diamond exploration."

quick facts:

- Committee Bay one of largest unexplored greenstone belts in North America

- Project a joint venture between Gold Fields Ltd. and Committee Bay Resources Ltd.

- Gold Fields has annual gold production of 4.1-million ounces

- $7.5 million committed over four years

- Drill results encouraging