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"Analytical data have been generated by or on behalf of Birch
Mountain, and independently by other companies, government agencies and
universities."
"Birch Mountain concludes that the results of analyses of drill core and
surface samples highlighted below, conclusively prove the existence of
anomalous quantities of gold, silver, platinum, palladium and other precious
and base metals in rocks from our Athabasca property. "
"Recent
advances in our understanding of the underlying chemical systems related to
mineral genesis, have enabled Birch Mountain to achieve intermittent detection
of important levels of gold, platinum and palladium. "
"We feel that the
variability in results is related to control of certain process parameters
that are now systematically being tested. "
Electron Imaging
----------------
As stated in the news release of June 24, 1999, Birch Mountain considers
that scanning electron microscope (SEM) and electron microprobe (EMP) data
conclusively prove the existence of anomalous quantities of gold, silver,
platinum, palladium and other precious and base metals in sedimentary rocks
from Athabasca. Birch Mountain, the Geological Survey of Canada, Lac Minerals
and others have conducted extensive SEM/EMP imaging and elemental analyses of
surface samples and drill core from Athabasca using secondary and
backscattered electron (BSE) imaging, and energy and wavelength dispersive
x-ray spectrometry. Over 200 distinct chemical species comprising native and
multi-element precious metal particles, and more widely distributed base metal
particles, notably Cu, Zn and Pb, have been documented. As an example, one
broken surface on one drill core specimen examined by SEM/EMP contained 90
micron-sized gold-bearing particles. The existence of placer accumulations of
distinctive flour gold in rivers and streams in Athabasca further supports a
local source of gold and other precious metals. Sources of information for
SEM/EMP results are listed in Table 1.
Table 1. Precious metals detected by SEM and EMP analysis, Athabasca and
Dawson Bay.
<<
Laboratory Area Precious Metals
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Geological Survey of Canada (GSC), Athabasca Au, Ag, Pt, Pd, Ir
Calgary, AB -------------------------------
Dawson Bay Au, Ag
------------------------------------------------------------------------
GSC, Ottawa, ON Athabasca Au, Ag, Pt,
placer Au
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lac Minerals Limited, Denver, CO Athabasca Au, Ag
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Canmet, Ottawa, ON Athabasca Au
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cannon Microprobe, Seattle, WA Athabasca Au, Ag, Re
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Amtel, London, ON Athabasca Au, Ag
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Durban University, South Africa Athabasca Au, Ag, Pd, Os
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alberta Geological Survey, Edmonton, AB Athabasca Au
------------------------------------------------------------------------
U. Alberta; L. Giusti M.Sc. thesis Athabasca Placer Au
------------------------------------------------------------------------
U. Calgary; B. Tsang, M.Sc. thesis Athabasca Pt, Ag
------------------------------------------------------------------------
U. Manitoba; S.M. Ramnath, M.Sc. thesis Dawson Bay Au, Ag, Pd
------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
The SEM/EMP data show that the gold particle size population, determined
from measurements of 170 particles, exhibits a truncated distribution with
nearly 50% of measured gold particles falling in the smallest size range of
less than 2 microns. SEM/EMP imaging also shows that micron sized gold
particles commonly are surrounded by a large number of sub-micron sized gold
particles. From these data we conclude that the majority of precious metal
particles lie in the sub-micron size range."
"Previous Analytical Results
---------------------------
Since 1994, Birch Mountain and others have tested established methods for
the assay and analysis of precious metals in sedimentary rocks from Athabasca.
In contrast to SEM/EMP imaging and microanalysis, which prove the existence of
precious metals in these rocks in amounts well above lower limits of
detection, conventional analytical results have been inconclusive, either
because they fail to detect precious metals or because positive results can
not be repeated routinely. A small proportion of such analyses have reported
precious metals. These include:
- 4.1 g/t gold measured by Aztec K x-ray analysis at Anglo American
Research Laboratories, Johannesburg, South Africa, for a composite
sample prepared from 7 drill core grab samples collected between 159.1
and 185.3 metres depth in Lac drill hole ATH94-01;
- An average grade of 0.36 g/t gold over a 5.0 m interval from 148.5 to
153.5 metres depth in Lac drill hole ATH94-04 measured by fire
assay-ICP at Anglo American Research Laboratories;
- 1.69 g/t gold measured by fire assay of activated carbon used to
extract gold from a cyanide bottle roll leach of a 150 g sample of
surface rock at Saskatchewan Research Council, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan"
"The foregoing analytical results convince Birch Mountain that:
- precious metals are present in anomalous quantities in rocks from
Athabasca;
- standard analytical protocols are unable to accurately determine the
concentrations of precious metals in these rocks;
- processes currently being tested by Birch Mountain provide
intermittent indications of quantities of precious metals but do not
repeat with an acceptable frequency;
- our understanding of the underlying chemistry of these mineralized
systems enables progress in improving predictive analytical protocols.". |
