Eastfield Resources (ETF-V) March 31, '14 recently staked three gold prospects approximately 20 kilometres north of the historic gold mining towns of Wells and Barkerville, B.C. The surrounding area has surprisingly little exploration history with some placer gold mining documented and still continuing on a small scale. A rush of exploration in the 1980's and 1990's focused on the search for Besshi type VMS deposits in the Antler Formation of the Mississippian to Permian Slide Mountain Terrane. The well known placer (~4 million ounce production) and lode (~1.2 million ounce production) gold deposits of the Wells/Barkerville area are hosted within meta-sedimentary rocks of the Upper Proterozoic-Paleozoic Barkerville Group which structurally underlies the Slide Mountain Terrane. Barkerville Gold Mines Ltd. (TSX-V: BGM) has published resources at Cow Mountain comprising: Measured + Indicated 1.04 million ounces gold grading 2.0 g/t Au and inferred resources of 3.94 million ounces grading 2.74 g/t Au. Additional but smaller resources occur at the Bonanza Ledge deposit which grades 7.0 to 8.0 g/t Au hosted in a massive pyrite lens. These massive pyrite lenses tend to occur on the flanks of vein systems.
The properties recently acquired share characteristics with the deposits in Barkerville such as quartz-iron carbonate alteration and an association with base metal sulphides, with peripheral zones of strong iron-carbonate alteration. Brief summaries of these early stage exploration properties are as follows:
Antler Property:
Gold mineralization was first discovered on the property in 1981 by Esso Minerals while following up a government regional geochemical survey. A rubbly outcrop of pyritic, iron carbonate altered volcanic rock returned an assay of 0.359 oz/ton (12.3 g/t) gold across a 1.1 m sample width associated with elevated arsenic. A soil sampling grid over this area outlined a 500 m long arsenic anomaly with the mineralized outcrop at the south end of the anomaly. This work was not followed up. Another discovery of mineralization was made by a prospector in 1997 and is approximately 1.5 km northwest of the Esso discovery. Float boulders were located along a road cut. Two grab samples were taken with the following analytical results: 97-RK10: 4.72 g/t Au, 330 ppm As, 6.96% Cu, 0.85% Zn; and 97RK11: 4.80 g/t Au, 100 ppm As, 1.90% Cu, 0.55% Zn. Subsequent soil and stream geochemical sampling indicated a broad area of elevated gold and arsenic values. A hand trench on one soil anomaly uncovered a 6.0 m long outcrop of faulted, Fe-carbonate altered rock with a zone of quartz-carbonate veining across 2.0 m of the trench. A sample across one metre of the veining returned 0.23 g/t Au, 1985 ppm As, 46 ppm Cu and 84 ppm Zn. No detailed geophysical surveying or drill testing has been completed on this extensive area of anomalous geochemical sampling.
CR Property:
In 1986 Noranda carried out a regional exploration program following up a BC government geochemical sampling survey and located an area strongly anomalous in gold and arsenic in an area of historical placer gold mining. Of note in their initial work was the discovery on a number of logging road cuts and landings of chalcedonic quartz veinlets and vugs associated with red-brown weathered quartz-carbonate altered zones. Follow-up grid soil sampling outlined a 1.0 km by 0.5 km arsenic anomaly with scattered anomalous gold values up to 1300 ppb gold. No outcrop was located on the grid. Heavy mineral soil/till sampling by Noranda along road cuts elsewhere on the CR property returned highly anomalous gold values up to 3,300 ppb gold in areas with little to no outcrop. No further exploration work has been undertaken since 1989 on the property and the source of the extensive geochemical anomalies remains unknown. 14
Mile Creek Property:
The first recorded work on the property involved the discovery of massive sulphide float boulders by a prospector in August, 1996. He outlined an area of 150 m by 300 m in which he located numerous ferricrete encrusted boulders many of which had massive sulphide cores of fine grained pyrite with lesser chalcopyrite. Cobbles and boulders of fine grained massive magnetite were also found at this site.
Soil and stream sediment geochemical sampling was carried out in a sporadic manner and did define an area of anomalous arsenic in the vicinity of the float boulders; gold was not analysed in this sampling. In 1987 Eureka Resources Inc. undertook EM geophysical surveys over a portion of the property on a reconnaissance scale and outlined three linear anomalies one of which was 300 m in length and open ended. No further work has been undertaken on the property. The large area of the mineralized boulders indicates a good potential for discovering significant mineralization in bedrock by applying exploration methods that will penetrate the overburden.
Eastfield is excited to be developing grass roots exploration targets at low cost to the company that offer significant upside exploration potential. It is believed that all three properties can be brought to a drill-testing stage quickly and at low cost. The company is seeking joint-venture participation in these projects. |
