Happy Valley Mine (Part 2): Diving deep into gold production potential

NI 43-101 report: Recent geophysical data notes potential for veins down to 250 metres

CALGARY, Canada (July 15, 2022)—Despite historical production of more than 11 kilograms of gold, owners of the Happy Valley Mine may only just be scratching the surface.

“The maximum depth of the 11+ kilograms of gold that have been extracted is 40 metres,” reads the National Instrument (NI) 43-101 Technical Report on the Happy Valley Mine completed earlier this year. “Recent geophysics has shown structures measured down to 250m and open-ended.”

Located just 15 kilometers from Bulawayo, Zimbabwe’s second-largest city, the underexploited Happy Valley Mine—a producing gold mine—first saw activity in 1956.

On April 28, 2022, Pambili Natural Resources Corporation (TSX-V: PNN) closed a C$515,000 non-brokered private placement (NBPP), which was oversubscribed, to provide Pambili with the funds needed to earn a share of future production from the Happy Valley Mine.

The geophysics cited include a magnetic and Real Section Induced Polarization (RSIP) survey conducted onsite in September 2019, on behalf of Techshed. RSIP surveys investigated depth levels of 50, 100, 200 and 300 metres.

The conclusion?

“The RSIP survey undertaken indicates that the magnetic lineaments . . . are associated with chargeability and resistivity, hence could potentially be carrying quartz veins mineralized with sulphides,” reads the NI 43-101 report. “The IP sections indicate that the anomalies continue to depths below 250m.”

That same RSIP survey also appeared to validate current gold production at Happy Valley Mine, whose primary shafts being worked consist of the Main shaft, the Pemba shaft and the Zulu shaft.

“The surface exploration work that has been completed has verified historical production from the gold reef present on the claim,” reads the report, completed by independent Zimbabwean geologist Gayle Hanssen.

“The continuation of present orebodies as shown by shafts and excavations is evidenced by the RSIP surveys. The coincidence of the RSIP anomalies with old workings and shaft and underground workings is emphatic.”

The NI 43-101 report recommends a two-stage program of exploration while current gold production continues, augmented by Pambili’s original C$200,000 capital expansion plan for the Happy Valley Mine.

(Stay tuned for Part 3 of this Paydirt series on the Hope Fountain geological structure.)