PICKLE CROW PROJECT
Thunder Bay, Ontario
29–31 March 2010
PC Gold is a junior gold exploration and development company under the stewardship of
Kevin Keough, President and CEO. PC Gold is focused on resource expansion and
development of its 100%-owned Pickle Crow gold mine property in north-western
Ontario, Canada. We recently visited the Pickle Crow site. PC Gold is a Canaccord Adams
2010 Watch List company. For more information, please see our Junior Mining Weekly
published 23 December 2009.
Infrastructure
The Pickle crow site is located about 400 kilometres north of Thunder Bay, Ontario. It is
accessible by paved highway number 17 connecting to highway number 599 (545
kilometre road), and then via about 6.5 kilometres of gravel. The town of Pickle Lake,
immediately adjacent (approximately 8 kilometres), is a northern access point that contains
what we would describe as above-average services, including an active year-round airport
with a 4,500 foot paved airstrip. Road access to Goldcorp’s 210,000 oz Au/yr Musselwhite
mine (100 kilometres to north) is across a portion of the Pickle Crow property.
Hydro One currently services the Pickle Lake area with grid power that was mostly built
in the 1940s. Goldcorp is seeking a new 180 to 250 kilometre transmission line with 40
megawatt capacity. New developments in the Ring of Fire area of northern Ontario could
result in upgraded power coming from the Nipigon power plant.
PC Gold has a 225 tonne per day modern gravity mill on the Pickle Crow mine site,
which gives the company the potential to quickly ramp up to production should a positive
production decision be made at the project.
History
The Pickle Crow mine began production in 1935 and operated continuously to 1966
when the operation was decommissioned. The mine operated largely as a high-grade,
narrow vein operation at about 400 tons/day. Over its life, operators exploited numerous
zones, accessing steeply dipping vein sets in three separate principal shafts, (1, 3,
Albany) the deepest of which, the number one shaft, advanced to 3,600 feet vertically
(1,150 metres). Mining was conducted off of sub-level development that was typically
completed on the high-grade veins. Shrinkage and cut-and-fill stoping was common. To
reduce pillars, cut-and-fill mining became a common mining method and resue cut-and fill became the most common method to reduce dilution, in what were often narrow
high-grade veins less than 3 feet wide (1 metre).
Historical recoveries using gravity/amalgamation/cyanidation were high, averaging
about 98%. The mine produced a total of 1.45 million ounces of gold from ore grading an
average of 16.14 g/t Au. Historical (non-NI 43-101) resource estimates conducted by
several parties, remain in the records and range from 46,000 oz Au at 11.31 g/t (1966)
to 1.2 million oz Au at 7.26 g/t (1988).
Since 1966, various operators have conducted studies to re-open the operation or have
completed property-scale exploration work. The biggest program was conducted in 1985
to 1989 under Highland – Crow Resources/Noramco. During this period over 46,000
metres of diamond drilling was completed as part of feasibility studies. In addition, the
No. 1 shaft was dewatered to the 750 foot level (a level that connects shafts 1, 3 and
Albany) and rehabilitated to access principal veins No.1 and No. 5 that were tested with
79 underground drill holes. A large portion of the program was infill drilling associated
with the BIF No. 5 zone, which the operator was targeting as potential mill feed for a
revised mine plan. One study in 1988 by Brampton Mining Services concluded there
were insufficient mineral resources to support a commercial operation.
In 2000, lease holder to Pickle Crow, Wolfden Resources entered into an agreement with
Cantera Mining Ltd, that allowed Cantera to mine the upper 100 metres of the property
area. Cantera conducted several bulk samples from surface expressions of the No. 1 and
No. 5 veins. In 2002, Cantera constructed a 225 tonne per day gravity finish mill. This
mill is on site and in good repair. In 2004 Cantera was placed into receivership. A
private creditor to Cantera, Don Ross, acquired Cantera’s rights to Pickle Crow and
Wolfden’s rights were transferred to Premier Gold Mines. In 2007 all lease hold rights to
Pickle Lake were consolidated by an agreement that transferred all rights to PC Gold Inc,
which went public in May 2008.
Regional geology
The Pickle Crow area is located in the Superior Province of the Canadian Shield and lies
within the Uchi Sub province, which hosts some of most prolific lode gold mines in North
America: the Red Lake, Rice Lake and Pickle Crow gold camps. Typical of sub province
assemablages the Uchi is bounded by major structural breaks or deformation zones.
These breaks are often associated with wide spread alteration and emplacement of
auriferous lode style mesothermal mineralization. The Uchi consists of a complex
structural inter-relationship of supracrustral rocks, including associated Greenstone
belts, within large areas of plutonic rocks. Greenstone belts in the area are associated
with large scale rifting developed in 2.99 Ga and further deformation events in about 2.7
Ga are associated with gold mineralization in the area.
Property geology
The Pickle Lake Greenstone Belt spans 70 by 25 kilometres. On a more local scale, the
Pickle Crow mine area contains a series of NE-trending Calc alkaline volcanic
assemblages, banded iron formations (BIF), Tholeiitic basalts and syn-volcanic
intrusives. Associated NE trending shear zones dominate the area and are important
mineralizing events. Structurally the area has a complex polyphase deformational
history. Important ENE trending shear fractures in the area are important, as this is the
predominant structural trend for high-grade mineralized veins in the area. These highgrade
vein sets therefore cross-cut the main stratigraphic trend in the area.
Historically, numerous high-grade veins were targeted in the mining operation at Pickle
Crow. Veins are predominately quartz with minor carbonate and associated tourmaline,
chlorite, sericite and minor sulphides. Minor sericite/chlorite micro-slips or fracture
pathways can be associated with gold mineralization and often visible gold. Veins have
sharp boundaries, characterized by sheared, often schistose, hanging wall and footwall
host rocks that can range from various volcanics, porphyric rocks and iron formation. Vein
continuity is considered good both laterally and to depth. The most prolific veins exploited
at Pickle Crow were the No. 1, No. 5, No. 2, and No. 3 veins. In addition, numerous
secondary veins were also developed and mined. The most prolific vein was No. 1, which
spans over 700 metres along strike and has been traced to over 1,100 metres vertically to
depth. The core area targeted for mining was the vein within host BIF, where grades and
especially widths were determined to be above average. No. 2 vein is hosted within the
Pickle Crow porphyry and was historically determined to be one of the highest grade veins
mined, but was less laterally and vertically continuous than No.1.
In addition to high-grade veins at Pickle Crow, gold mineralization is also associated with
BIF. Principal zones include the No.5 BIF and the Central BIF. Little historical production
occurred from these zones, largely due to relatively lower grades and lower recoveries.
At today’s gold prices, these zones of mineralization represent a second target area at
Pickle Crow. A previous preliminary metallurgical test suggested gold recoveries of up to
88% from BIF at Pickle Crow.
Recent work
PC Gold is currently drilling at the Pickle Crow project with three drill rigs. For 2010, the
company has a 35,000 metre, $10 million, exploration program budgeted that will
include deep drilling across multiple zones below the shaft No. 1 area, the newly
discovered No. 19 vein, No. 20 vein and exploration on new target areas. One rig is
targeting deep mineralization below shaft No. 1, a second is targeting the newly
discovered No. 19 vein, and a third is testing the No. 20 vein mineralization (southwest
of shaft No. 1). The company is contemplating adding a fourth drill rig to test exploration
targets at Pickle Crow. One area being considered is the NE area of the property, which
is the same host of the No. 2 vein and the newly discovered No. 19 vein. The company
also completed 75 line-kilometres of IP geophysics recently.
A NI 43-101 mineral resource estimate is expected in late Q2/10. The Pickle Crow mine
hosts historical (non-NI 43-101) resource estimates ranging from 46,000 oz Au at 11.31
g/t (1966) to 1.2 million oz Au at 7.26 g/t (1988). The company has completed a
thorough compilation of historical work that includes digitizing available property data.
The mineral resource will concentrate on the area associated with the No. 1 shaft zones
including the veins and BIF.In late February 2010, PKL reported that deep drilling below the Shaft No. 1 workings of
the Pickle Crow gold mine, cut the key No. 1 vein structure approximately 210 metres
below the lowest mined level on this vein, and returned the highest-grade gold
intersection on record for this structure. PC-09-052A returned 134.26 g/t Au over 3.20
metres, including 838.14 g/t Au over 0.50 metres starting at 1,139.8 metres on the drill
stem. Drill hole PC-09-052 W01 is a new mother hole progressing to target
mineralization below Shaft No. 1, targeting the No. 1 vein and additional extensions of
several of the richest historical mineralized zones in the Pickle Crow gold mine.
Additional targets include the No. 5, No. 9, and No. 11 veins, as well as the Central and
No. 5 BIF (iron formation) gold zones. At current drilling rates, we anticipate the drilling
could reach vein No. 1 in about two weeks, and No. 5 in three weeks to one month.Recent drilling targeting the principal zones associated with shaft No. 1 intersected a
new vein hosted in the Pickle Lake Porphyry, now termed vein No. 19. Wedge hole PC-
10-052-W02 intersected 43.28 g/t Au over 13.13 metres starting at 530.35 metres on the
drill stem, approximately 35 metres beneath PC-10-052-W01 which intersected 8.23 g/t
Au over 7.6 metres. Two other intercepts returned low gold grades in narrow quartz vein
material. Within the 43.28 g/t Au over 13.13 m, PKL intersected 4.0 metre grading 138.9
g/t Au, which carries the bulk of the grade in 10-052-W02. As evidenced by low core
angles and mineralization sub parallel to core axis, the intersection is likely oblique and
greater than the true width of the zone. The No. 19 vein is believed to be hosted within
the same porphyry body to the southwest of the No. 2 vein, a historical ore body at Pickle
Crow and known for above-average gold grades. As mentioned, one drill rig is targeting
approximately 50 metre step-out expansion of mineralization on the No. 19 vein. One
additional hole is complete and the company suggests it will batch about four drill
intercepts before releasing new results to the market. Based on drill rates and time for
assay work, we expect additional news regarding the No. 19 vein could be released in
two weeks to one month.In September 2009, PC Gold announced the discovery of a new gold zone in the Albany
Shaft area of its Pickle Crow gold mine property called the Conduit zone. Highlights from
this initial discovery included hole PC-09-036, which returned 3.17 g/t Au over 35.6
metres; hole PC-09-037, which returned 2.11 g/t Au over 40.5 metres; and hole PC-09-
028, which returned 1.42 g/t Au over 32.4 metres. This drilling is interpreted to be the
down plunge extension (200 metres) of mineralization intersected in hole PC-08-020,
which intersected 1.72 g/t Au over 48.4 metres (released 22 January 2009).
PC Gold has interpreted the Conduit zone as a continuous north-northwest trending,
shallowly plunging, pipe-shaped body that had not been intersected by any historical
drilling. According to PC Gold, the zone consists of a thick package of highly deformed
stockwork and breccia-style veins with distinctive alteration halos. PC Gold now
interprets the conduit zone to consist of three discreet structures (CZ1-3), with CZ1
interpreted to extend from near surface to more than 500 metres down plunge,
potentially lending the zone to bulk mining methods. The company plans to test the zone
to the north and northeast and down plunge; however, with the discovery of the No.19
vein, advancement the Conduit zone has dropped in priority.
An analyst has visited PC Gold’s Pickle Lake Project material operations in Thunder Bay,
Ontario. Partial payment or reimbursement was received from the issuer for the related
travel costs.
Investment risks
The commercialization risks associated with mineral exploration and development are
high; thus, investment in the shares of PC Gold Ltd. is for risk accounts only. |
