Athabasca - Prairie Gold
Early in 1999, we completed five drill holes in Athabasca. Despite intersecting
altered rock in close proximity to zones previously shown to contain anomalous
platinum and gold values, fire assays returned negligible precious metal values. Field
activities in early 1999 also included trenching and bulk sampling.
In March, 1999, we initiated an in-house program to resolve inconsistencies between
methods used to determine the presence and concentrations of precious metals in
rocks from Athabasca. Results previously obtained from detailed core logging,
scanning electron microscope imaging and geochemical analysis allow Birch
Mountain to identify alteration zones. A series of bulk samples prepared from these
altered rocks provides a uniform source of material to develop and test a variety of
analytical methods.
We conclude that analyses of surface rocks and drill core, conducted in-house and by
others on rocks from Athabasca, conclusively prove the existence of anomalous
quantities of gold, silver, platinum, palladium and other precious metals in these
rocks. We have had partial success in detecting precious metals (up to 6 gram/tonne
gold, 11 gram/tonne platinum, and 1.9 gram/tonne palladium in multiple analyses of
bulk sample BJ98-008; news release of July 16, 1999), however we need to improve
the consistency of our results. Our development work remains focused on improving
analytical repeatability.
Anomalous does not equal economic |
