Mineral Exploration is the official publication of the Association of Mineral Exploration British Columbia.
Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/1189730
46 Mineral Exploration | amebc.ca PHOTO COURTESY GOVERNMENT OF BRITISH COLUMBIA Parker Copper project. Teck Resources Limited continued drilling at the Sweet Spot project, and Highway 50 Gold Corp. began drilling at the Monroe project late in the year. Eagle Plains Resources Ltd., conducted magnetotelluric surveys and did additional work at its Vulcan project. Braveheart Resources Inc. drilled at its newly acquired Bul River mine property. In the West Kootenays, Taranis Resources Inc. continued exploring the Thor property for gold and stratiform base metals, and continued with permitting for a bulk sample to characterize the ore. Klondike Silver Corp. continued underground drilling at the Silvana project along trend from historic mineralization. Grab sampling in historic underground workings yielded results of up to 11,250 g/t Ag, along with 23.4 per cent Pb and 32.6 per cent Zn. Rokmaster Resources Corp. continued mapping and sampling at the Duncan project for stratiform replacement zinc-lead. Industrial mineral projects HCA Mountain Minerals (Moberly) Ltd. drilled at its Moberly Silica mine to redefine the resource. In the West Kootenay, Eagle Graphite Incorporated was awarded a grant to study the use of graphite from the Black Crystal project in battery anodes. Coal projects At the Fording River, Greenhills, Elkview and Line Creek mines, Teck Coal Ltd. continued exploration drilling in active pits, with continued exploration in their expansion areas. Several coal projects are in various stages of environmental assessment. North Coal Limited (formerly CanAus Coal Ltd.) continued drilling and coal quality testing on potential expansion areas at its Michel Creek project and last year submitted an updated project description to the British Columbia Environmental Assessment Office. Jameson Resources Limited continued environmental baseline work for its Crown Mountain project, which entered the pre-application stage of environmental assessment in October, 2014. Pacific American Coal Ltd. continued work at the Elko project, which is in early stages of exploration. SOUTHEAST REGION SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST REGIONS Precious metal projects Barkerville Gold Mines Ltd. continued drilling in 2019 at the Cariboo Gold project, with 20,000 m at Island Mountain and 40,000 m planned on Barkerville Mountain. Barkerville released a preliminary economic assessment based on up to a 4,000 tpd underground operation with an 11-year life. Total ore mined would be 14.7 Mt at an average diluted grade of 4.52 g/t Au. After-tax net present value at a 5 per cent discount rate is estimated at $402 million, and after tax internal rate of return at 28 per cent. The company also initiated the British Columbia Environmental Assessment process, with a project description. In September, Osisko Gold Royalties Ltd. entered an agreement to acquire Barkerville. The deal values Barkerville's equity at $338 million. Westhaven Ventures Inc. continued to intersect high-grade epithermal gold veins at Shovelnose in 2019. A third vein zone, below and northeast of the first and second zones, gave a 7.11 m intersection grading 9.42 g/t Au and 69.36 g/t Ag. The second vein zone included an intersection of 52.22 m of 5.13 g/t Au and 17.32 g/t Ag. The company also undertook soil geochemistry, prospecting and geological mapping on the property. After Westhaven Ventures' work at Shovelnose showed signs of success in 2018, Talisker Resources Ltd. acquired tenure for much of the area underlain by Spences Bridge Group rocks and conducted a large reconnaissance program on the Spences Bridge project in 2019. Avino Silver and Gold Mines Ltd. had a 28,000 to 30,000 m two-phase drill program at the Bralorne mine that began in 2018 and extended through 2019. It included an underexplored area called the NorthEast block. Reporting gold-bearing veins in 27 of 35 holes, the company considers that the area has greater potential than previously recognized. Privateer Gold Ltd. drilled at Surespan in the Zeballos gold camp, planning to Samples of chalcedony and brecciated crustifrom quartz from Talisker Resources Ltd.'s Spences Bridge project.