Glorieux is absolutely correct that tonnage is the key- and this is what Frank C. has been saying as well. However, tonnage must be inferred from positive drill results to prove that there is indeed economical gold throughout the properties. Visible gold particles are sexy, but if they do not contribute to the economical part of the deposit (too low in number/rare to be significant for tonnage calculations) then they do not provide "proof" that the grades will be similar to the rest of Timmins1/2.

I have been asked by several members here to clarify my earlier posts regarding zeros in assays with a nuggety deposit and I will try to do so by conceptualizing the amount of gold one might expect to find in a m3 of pure quartz at Timmins1.

Let's assume based on Jim Tilsley's knowledge of Timmins 1/2 data he predicts that he needs about 0.5 tonnes/m of ore to find 10 significant gold nuggets in the richest (central) part of the quartz vein to define an accurate grade. I believe these numbers are pretty close to the actual numbers in the central (richest) parts of the Timmins1 veins.

If the average density of quartz is around 2.5 tonnes/m3 and you need ~ 0.5 tonnes/m in the rich vein area to define an accurate grade (remember by definition this means he needs to find 10 significant gold particles in 0.5 tonnes of ore) then one might expect to find ~ 50 significant gold particles in one m3 of quartz. The problem becomes that when you take a single small samples (drill core) of that same m3 it is very unlikely to find one of the 50 particles of gold in your core. Even if you do get one nugget in your core, then your core gets cut in half, then further subdivided for assays giving you an even greater risk of missing the gold nugget that you know was in your core in the first place. This is what Jim means by zeros adding up based on conventional drilling and assay procedures. Now if you do happen to get a significant nugget in your assay, Kaboom the assay results look phenomenal, but you still have to include all the zeros you've collected to get an average grade and this is what brings the apparent grade back into the range we historically have reported with small drill core and assays (1-2 g/tonne).

Compare this to the case where you are mining the quartz veins to destruction so within the same m3 of quartz you would obviously get all 50 nuggets out and have a very accurate grade estimation. This helps explain why the drill results underestimate the true grades.

For definition sake- A "significant gold particle" is a gold particle that makes up the bulk of the economical nuggets in the deposit. For simplicity think of it as the nugget size that is at the median size of all nuggets in the entire deposit (ie the important ones for making this deposit economical).

Now, the most important question is whether the entire Beauce deposit shows a similar gold distribution in quartz as Timmins 1/2. If it does, I think we will all be VERY happy... and that's why I want to see the assays.

Scott