Jeff Swallow, left, and Tyler Snelgrove with Downing Drilling of Quebec prepare to restart the drill while working near Pickett Mountain north of Patten on March 7. They were contracted by the Ontario-based Wolfden Resources Corp. and began test drilling near Pickett Mountain in December. Drill core samples will help company researchers analyze the feasibility of opening a mine near Pickett Mountain, in remote northern Penobscot County. They are primarily looking to mine zinc, but lesser amounts of copper, lead, silver and gold were also present in the deposits. Credit: Gabor Degre

PATTEN, Maine — The Canadian mining company looking for economically valuable minerals in northern Penobscot County is moving onto a second phase of exploration that involves searching for additional metal deposits.

Don Hoy, CEO of Ontario-based Wolfden Resources, said the company’s first testing starting in late December was aimed at confirming the results of exploratory drilling from the late 1970s and early 1980s, when volcanic deposits of copper, lead, silver and gold were found by other companies who never pursued a mine.

“With the results in hand, basically there are no surprises,” Hoy said Wednesday. “What we’re seeing in our results are quite comparable to results from the 1980s.”

However, Hoy said it is still too early to determine whether the company will pursue a mine.

Now, Hoy said, Wolfden is entering a second phase of exploration to search for additional volcanic deposits in and around Pickett Mountain, where the company owns a 6,870-acre tract of land.

The Bangor Daily News is pleased to feature content from our sister company, The County. To read the rest of “Mining company moving onto next phase of exploration in Penobscot County,” an article by The County staff writer Anthony Brino, please follow this link to The County online.