Mineral Exploration is the official publication of the Association of Mineral Exploration British Columbia.
Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/225045
Polymetallic base & precious metals (left) Raise in the high-grade silver-lead vein at Huldra Silver Inc.'s Treasure Mountain; (right) Drilling polymetallic targets at the South Cirque zone of Teck's Cirque camp. While silver is more typically a byproduct or potential coproduct in B.C., silver is the primary commodity at several polymetallic prospects. In northwestern B.C., Brixton Metals Corporation reported positive drill results from the Oban zone at the Thorn project, where targets are high-grade silver-gold-lead-zinc diatremebreccia zones and high-grade gold-silver-copper veins. Early in 2013, Huldra Silver Inc. commenced production from its Treasure Mountain Mine, a high-grade silver-lead vein in the upper Tulameen watershed with milling at a 200-tonne-per-day mill near Merritt. Unfortunately, in June, both the mine and mill were placed on care and maintenance due to market factors and commodity pricing. Silver Mountain Mines Inc. expanded its gravity geophysical, mapping and geochemical surveys at the Ptarmigan property, located near Radium. Targeting silver-bearing veins and manto-style sulphide mineralization, new mineralization and zone extensions were successfully identified. Specialty Metals, Iron, Nickel, Industrial Minerals I n the northeast, Taseko Mines Ltd. continued metallurgical testing on Aley samples and successfully produced a niobium concentrate. Work in 2013 aimed at finalizing the process flowsheet for a feasibility study. On Vancouver Island, in the Sayward area, an application to reopen Canadian Dehua International Mines Group's Iron Ross magnetite mine is on hold pending further exploration. Among other iron skarn prospects on Vancouver Island, Dehua also acquired the Port Renfrew area property (Pearson project), formerly of Pacific Iron Ore, and conducted reconnaissance geological work in advance of planned drilling. In the north-central interior, First Point Minerals Corp. reported that the extension of the Baptiste deposit at the Decar project has increased the indicated resource to 1.438 million tonnes of nickel. A positive preliminary economic assessment was announced for a 114,000-tonne-per-day open-pit operation producing 37,400 tonnes per year over 24 years. Cliffs Natural Resources Exploration Canada Inc. elected to fund a prefeasibility study for the project. Exploration for industrial minerals is commonly unpublicized. Nevertheless, a few examples here represent activity in the sector. Fertoz International Inc. continued hand-portable drilling, hand trenching and mapping at the Wapiti phosphate project northeast of Prince George. In the Kootenays, Noram Ventures Inc. completed its Phase 1 Photographs : Government of British Columbia p78-103_BCExploration.indd 97 Apatite (pale pink) and baddeleyite (yellow) fluorescence in a sample from Taseko Mines Ltd.'s Aley project. drill program at the Jumbo property for flake graphite, with targets at the South Limb, Black Fly and Big Flake areas. Drill targets tested a sinuous EM conductor identified on a SkyTEM airborne geophysical survey. On Texada Island, Lafarge Canada drilled the area surrounding its quarry to upgrade its limestone quality information. The inventory could last 100 years or more. w i n t e r 2 0 1 3 97 13-11-27 10:13 AM