Barkerville Gold Mines drills 54.40 metres of 19.20 g/t gold
Drilling operations at the Barkerville Gold Mines Cariboo gold project near Wells, British Columbia. Source: Barkerville Gold Mines Ltd.
Barkerville Gold Mines Ltd. [BGM-TSXV; BGMZF-OTC;] has made a new discovery from the continuing 130,000-metre phase 2 Island Mountain and Valley zone exploration drilling program at the company’s 100%-owned flagship Cariboo gold project near Wells, east-central British Columbia. Detailed drilling results are presented at the end of this release.
New high-grade stockworks intersected at Shaft zone
The company is pleased to announce that Island Mountain Shaft Zone drill hole IM-17-072 has discovered a formerly unidentified wide network of high-tenor veining grading 19.2 g/t gold gold over 54.4 metres, including 32.06 g/t gold over 30.7 metres. This new intersection consists of several higher-grade intervals including 272 g/t gold over 0.5 metre, 760 g/t gold over 0.85 metres, 64.2 g/t gold over 0.5 metres, 42.8 g/t gold over 0.5 metres, 65.4 g/t gold over 1.5 metres and 15.8 g/t gold over 1.15 metres.
An intensely silica-altered and pyritized sandstone package hosts this dense network of mineralized veining. Located 250 metres vertically below surface in the Shaft zone, this auriferous occurrence is untested by drilling above and below the intersection, and is open for expansion. In addition to the aforementioned intersection, IM-17-072 also established auriferous veining grading 25 g/t gold over 2.85 metres located 25 metres below surface, 16.55 g/t gold over 5.45 metres 100 metres vertically below surface, followed by 9.41 g/t gold over 3.3 metres 110 metres below surface.
Additional high-grade stockworks intersected at Shaft Zone
Situated 180 metres vertically below drill hole IM-17-072 which intersected 19.2 g/t gold over 54.4 metres, including 32.06 g/t gold over 30.7 metres, drill hole IM-17-078 has discovered another broad occurrence of sandstone-hosted stockwork veining averaging 11.42 g/t gold over 28.55 metres, including two subintervals of 30.76 g/t gold over 6.6 g/t gold and 12.1 g/t gold over 8.15 metres.
These new intersections occur at vertical depth of 420 metres below surface and are open for expansion in all directions due to the extremely limited drilling at this depth.
Because these stand-alone drill holes constitute two widely separated intercepts that cannot be confidently corroborated by additional drill hole pierce points, the geometry and hence true width of the potential mineralized zone cannot be assuredly concluded at this time.
Chris Lodder, President and CEO of Barkerville Gold Mines, said, “These intersections are some of the best to date on Island Mountain that continues to produce new zones of higher-grade, wide zones of gold mineralization. We will be following up with both wide-spaced stepout and closer infill drilling in this area to better determine dimensions of this potentially strongly mineralized vein corridor.”
About the phase 2 program
The 130,000-metre 2017 Phase 2 exploratory and delineation drill program on Island Mountain is intended to determine the extent of the vein systems that were historically never explored and is aimed at discovering new vein systems and sulphide replacement bodies that will ultimately inform a maiden resource at Island Mountain. Seven drill rigs are currently operating on Island Mountain, with an eighth rig testing for additional mineralization below the former Aurum and Cariboo gold-quartz mines which have never been explored since mining operations ceased circa 1960.