Black Smoker to begin drilling at Fox Lake project, shares increase 27%

Black Smoker Ventures (CNSX:BSM) saw its shares surge 27 percent Tuesday, as it announced plans to start drilling at its wholly-owned Fox Lake project in Manitoba, Canada.

The company’s shares rose to seven cents as it announced that it had received permits to commence drilling at the Fox Lake project.

The Fox Mine has never been explored below a 1,200 metre depth and Black Smoker said it has now completed the first modern deep penetrating geophysical survey on the property resulting in the identification of multiple targets to be tested in the first quarter of 2012.

The company has engaged Cyr Drilling International Ltd. to conduct this initial drill program.

Winnipeg-based Cyr Drilling specializes in conducting diamond drill programs for mineral exploration and development projects in some of the most diverse, environmentally sensitive and difficult to access locations.

"Recently completed geophysical work and interpretation at Fox Lake suggests Black Smoker has an excellent opportunity to target a new copper and zinc mineralization at depth," Black Smoker's president and CEO Carson Seabolt said.

"The upcoming drill program will be the first significant exploration campaign at Fox Lake since the mine closed in 1985, following 15 years of production. We are well positioned to execute on this program targeting discovery."

The company said the initial 1,600-metre program will commence in April and is expected to be completed over a 45-day period.

Black Smoker said its geophysical ground program resulted in the identification of a major target downdip of known mineralization, which could represent the existence of a new lens at depth.

The company said this signature extends to an approximate depth of 1,800 metres, which lays approximately 600 metres beyond the deepest historical drill intersection.

The Fox Lake project was one of Manitoba's largest historical Volcanogenic Massive Sulphide (VMS) deposits and copper producers between 1970 and 1985, yielding approximately 12 million tonnes grading 1.82 percent copper and 1.78 percent zinc.