TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Project generator Transition Metals on Wednesday said it has expanded the size of its fully owned Janice Lake property, which is located about 55 km south-east of Key Lake, in north-central Saskatchewan, to 11 684 ha from the original 6 880 ha it had staked in March 2012.

The company said the additional land was staked in December after a comprehensive data review indicated the geological environment that hosts the copper and silver mineral occurrences at Janice Lake extended to the north-east and south-west of the property, and that there was potential to discover additional sediment-hosted copper/silver mineralisation in this underexplored area.

"When you consider the widespread occurrence of copper mineralization at surface and how little drilling has been done, you get the sense that the potential for a significant discovery is high," Transition Metals CEO Scott McLean said in a statement.

The Saskatchewan Geological Survey has highlighted that the mineralisation at Janice Lake has many of the characteristics of the sediment-hosted copper deposit model.

Drill results on the original property by Noranda from 1993 include 0.77% copper over 33 m, including 1.6% copper over 6 m, within 35 m of the surface.

Grab samples collected over a 30 km² broadly mineralised region by Transition Metals during an August visit to the original property returned values ranging from 0.34% to 9.35% copper and 0.7 g/t to 61.7 g/t silver, confirming previous reports of high-grade mineralisation at surface, and highlighting the potential for the discovery of multiple near-surface, sediment-hosted copper deposits.

Collectively, sediment-hosted copper deposits are estimated to account for 25% of worldwide copper production with about 100 known deposits containing more than one-million tons of contained copper. In contrast to porphyry copper deposits, sediment-hosted copper deposits frequently contain higher concentrations of copper and accessory base and precious metals.

Transition Metals said it had developed a $2-million exploration plan for this year that would include additional compilation, mapping, ground geophysics, soil geochemistry and drilling.

As a project generator, it is actively seeking a suitable partner to fund this programme. The compilation includes digitisation of all historical drilling, integration with the historical geophysical data, and reinterpretation of the geology to determine the effectiveness of the past geophysics in delineating the mineralisation and the success of historical drilling programmes to assist in the planning of the 2013 exploration programme.

The company said it had applied for permits and planned to initiate a programme of winter grid cutting, and ground geophysics in preparation for the summer exploration season.

The planned summer programme would consist of geological mapping and prospecting of the interpreted extensions of the mineralised stratigraphy, reclamation and sampling of historical drill core, and soil geochemistry.