Hi Sparkligwatr!

I would agree that the real vein widths are much wider than reported, and I think the reason they have chosen to report in the way they have is because if you take the narrow vein grades and then average those gold values across a much wider interval, you end up with a grade well below a gram per tonne. 

It is true that KXL has hit gold values in every core, but that does not mean every intercept will contribute to a gold resource.  Many of the drill cores assays they have reported are not economic, and they should be considered as holes in the donut that will not be mined, even if millions of ounces are eventually proven up.  And that is just fine, because even within a large system there is going to be an uneven distribution of the gold emplaced.  One would expect that perhaps only 30-40% of even a very high grade vein will be rich enough to be mined at a profit.

Here is an interesting point to ponder:  If the gold is present in a wide banded vein structure like the one you outlined in HR08-75, yet it only occurs in thin veinlets within the near surface extension, then perhaps during the process that transported the gold to this system, conditions to depth were ideal such that most of the gold was emplaced in a larger structure below. 

The geos running the program are aware of the potential and will no doubt be looking for the ore shoots that represent zones of enrichment.  We have already encountered a few rich zones of more than 10m in width as reported in earlier NRs.  Now it is just a question of following the veins to depth to try and find more of these enriched zones across even greater extensions.

The best recent examples of similar discovery breakthroughs are Goldcorps Red Lake Mine where grades of 7.75 oz/t were encountered over a width of 6m at around 1800m depth, and Kirkland Lake Golds New South Zone discovery where 3.7 oz/t over 3m.  In each case, these new zones were discovered by following the trend of lower grade results to depth, and in each case the discoveries dramatically improved the profile for the entire deposit.

I think some investors seem to think that its a matter of just pushing a button and then the highest grade intervals will be produced in the very first try.  In reality there is usually years of work and a good amount of luck involved to generate a new high grade discovery.  We have been spoiled with KXL because we have so many good intercepts at the early stage, and that should be encouraging.  But I guess it also means that some people will be disappointed and throw in the towel if each and every hole is not a bonanza.  That is not a very realistic attitude, but investors tend to be irrational most of the time anyway.

I am off to the PDAC for the day.

cheers!

mike