SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
TerraX Minerals is finding positive results on the same gold belt that hosted the Giant and Con mines.

Brent McAllister, left, drill manager with GeoVector, is joined by consultant David Connelly and Duncan Studd, resource geologist with GeoVector. TerraX Minerals is seeing positive results from winter drilling.

Recent assay results from the company's winter drilling program have shown extremely encouraging results, said David Connelly, consultant for TerraX.

"(The results are) very consistent with the grade of ore that both Con and Giant produced, he said.

Winter drilling has shown a range of grade, from five to 10 and 20 grams of gold per tonne.

The results are from the south end of what's known as the Crestaurum zone and the Barney shear.

"That area is proving to have a density of results that are of a similar nature to those that were found at Giant and Con," said Connelly. "The Barney shear is believed to be an extension of that deposit. The other encouraging thing is that these are very close to the surface."

Duncan Studd, a geologist working on the site, said the TerraX property is sitting on the greenstone belt, which is made of old lava flows piled on top of each other.

"They've been titled up on their side, squished, pulled and prodded and messed around," said Studd about the area's geological history. "In these belts, you have deformations within the greenstone and they tend to be quite good for gold."

In addition to the recent drilling by TerraX, the property is benefiting from 40 years of drilling history and core samples.

Connelly said the drilling program is going so well that, weather permitting, TerraX hopes to expand to Banting Lake and Walsh Lake, where there are some interesting showings by Northern prospectors that merit drilling.

"The overall project is 95 square kilometres and most of the focus has been on the Crestaurum and Barney zone for the last two years, so this would be the first time that TerraX would get a drill on the Banting Lake and Walsh Lake claims," he said.

The company is actively seeking financing to expand its drilling program, which is already the largest exploration program in the territory this year.

TerraX's property is close enough to Yellowknife that infrastructure costs make exploration and a future mine site feasible if an economic deposit can be found.

The company should post public notices soon to try to minimize disturbances with recreational users of Banting and Walsh Lake. The Yellowknife City Gold project is located immediately to the north of the city of Yellowknife.