V.EUK - found this! Somebody is starting to notice. Company could be drilling as early as September this year.
Supposedly, Hudbay has a new technology that they are using on this property. Copper has its own signature in the em's and they believe they have just uncovered an awesome target in addition to those already slated for drilling. A minimum of twelve holes are to be completed this year.
Read on if you are interested. Unfortuneately, EUK is mentioned in the same sentence as Wayside. Oh well, soon, V.EUK will have more of a following than IWA had in its hayday.
B.C. hope grows for recovery in mining
Staking picks up in Barkerville region
05:06 EDT Wednesday, August 09, 2000
PETER KENNEDY
British Columbia Bureau
Vancouver -- A mini staking rush around a gold discovery in British Columbia's Caribou region has raised hopes that the
province's beleaguered mining industry is about to recover from what has been a deep slump.
B.C. mining officials say staking has picked up around a discovery controlled by International Wayside Gold Mines Ltd., a
Vancouver company that recently had its stock halted for several weeks by the Canadian Venture Exchange.
Also contributing to the activity is a metals exploration project in the province's Interior controlled by Eureka Resources Inc.
of Vancouver and its joint venture partner, Hudson Bay Exploration & Development Co. Ltd., a division of Winnipeg-based
Hudson Bay Mining and Smelting Co. Ltd.
Provincial mining officials are only cautiously optimistic about prospects for a revival in their industry after seeing exploration
spending plunge to a record low of $25-million last year from $268-million in 1990.
However, they are encouraged to see that the amount of ground staked in British Columbia during the first six months of this
year has climbed to 14,104 units (a unit is 25 square hectares) from 8,189 in the same period last year.
"Things seem to be improving a little bit," said Byron Hosking, a gold commissioner with the B.C. Ministry of Energy and Mines
in Vancouver. "It's slow but it's improving."
Mineral exploration virtually ground to a halt last year because of uncertainty over government land-use policies and the deep
slump in metal and gold prices.
But industry officials say a slight improvement in metal prices and signs of an improvement in the provincial economy have
helped to generate more exploration activity, particularly in the Interior of the province.
Most of the staking activity is centred near the province's Barkerville region in the northern Interior, where about 15 exploration
companies have picked up ground around International Wayside's Bonanza Ledge discovery.
International Wayside, which is headed by Frank Callaghan, had its stock halted for several weeks in May and June because of
concerns over its disclosure practices. After soaring to $2.10 last month on the Canadian Venture Exchange, the stock has
slipped back to 73 cents as investors await news of more drilling results that will help determine whether or not the project
might prove economic.
Meanwhile, under an agreement with Eureka Resources, Hudson Bay is exploring on a 23,000-hectare property near Wells,
B.C., in a bid to find the source of boulders that contained high-grade copper values.
"We hope to be drilling before the end of this year," said David Cass, an exploration manager with Hudson Bay, which has
agreed to spend $5.5-million to earn a 60-per-cent interest in the property.
However, mining industry officials say the increased staking activity does not necessarily mean that companies will be spending
more money in the province.
"It is one thing to stake claims and establish tenure over the ground," said Robert Pinsent, a research geologist with British
Columbia's Energy Ministry. "But you have to obtain funding before you can do any meaningful work."
Industry officials say low metal prices are making it hard for these companies to raise money. |
