Mining firms expand quest for metals (0) [Back]< Prev | Next >
(News) Tuesday, 14 August 2007, 00:00 PST
by GORDON HOEKSTRA Citizen staff
Serengeti Resources Inc., a Vancouver-based company that recently made a new gold discovery in B.C.'s Northern Interior, has entered into a joint venture with Fjordland Exploration to explore more territory in north-central B.C.
The two companies have partnered to explore for precious and base metals on 11 properties, totalling 950 square kilometres, dubbing the project, QUEST.
Serengeti president and CEO David Moore said Monday he expects they'll spend about $300,000 to $500,000 on the airborne survey.
However, right now they are still trying to line up a contractor, which are scarcer than "hen's teeth," noted Moore. He said that's a product of the very active exploration that is taking place now, including in north-central B.C.
The exploration work on the joint venture will also continue on the ground to test any prospective mineralization they find.
The project lies within the Quesnel Terrane, an area that stretches from the B.C.-U.S border to northern B.C.
While the area has already produced mines -- including Mount Polley and Kemess South -- it also includes areas in north-central B.C. that have not been highly explored because of extensive deposits of rocks, sand and gravel from the last ice age.
It makes the mineralization more difficult to detect below ground as there are no natural outcroppings or visible mineralization.
Serengeti and Fjordland plan to conduct an initial airborne survey this month or in September with flight lines spaced at 250 metre intervals over most of their claims within the QUEST area.
The companies will use the data to interpret the possible locations of buried mineral bodies.
Other high-level exploration work is already also planned for the same region.
Geoscience B.C. -- seeded with $25 million from the provincial government -- is spending $4 million on an airborne survey in an area that stretches from Williams Lake to the Mackenzie and Fort St. James areas. Those surveys are being conducted at much wider intervals of two to four kilometres.
Those surveys are also trying to help locate mineral hotspots.
Serengeti Resources noted that in anticipation of the Geoscience BC program, several exploration companies have recently acquired mineral claims in the target area. Since late June, more than 400,000 hectares of new lands have been registered, creating a noticeable staking rush, said the company.
Known landholders in the region include Xstrata PLC (formerly Falconbridge), NovaGold Resources Inc., Rimfire Minerals Corp., Geoinformatics Exploration, Decoors Mining and Peak Geological.
Serengeti Resources, a B.C.-based junior mining company, made a new gold and copper discovery north of Fort St. James in late 2006.
The Kwanika discovery -- about 250 kilometres northwest of Prince George --set Serengeti's stock soaring, and enabled the company to raise more than $25 million to carry out additional drilling and exploration.
|
