Recent drilling by Barker Minerals Ltd. at its Black Bear silver/gold project has resulted in some exciting news, said the company’s media spokesperson Robert H. Kuhl.
Two drill holes — one 90 metres, the other 310 metres — have revealed consistently present gold pathfinders at the project site located 74 kilometres northeast of Williams Lake.
“We took over 500 samples on the second hole, hole number seven, every 0.3 metres, and the pathfinder minerals were there as well as gold showing,” Kuhl told the Tribune.
In a press release issued last week, Barker Minerals noted the top 90 metres of both drill holes were similar geologically and geochemically in alteration style and associated mineralization.
“The alteration patterns are typical of an epithermal system, which is also significant, because it means it’s also near the surface. The alteration pattern carries on right to the bottom of hole 7 and it’s still open at depth. Who knows how far it goes down? We stopped at 310 metres,” Kuhl explained.
In the first hole — BB12-06 — the alteration patterns were pyrite, fuschite, calcite, sericite and silica. Identified gold pathfinder minerals were bismuth, arsenic, antimony, cadmium, tin, mercury and selenium.
“A few narrow veins up to 0.49 metres in thickness occur with variable amounts of galena, pyrite and lesser amounts of molybdenum mineralization,” the press release noted.
The second hole — BB12-07 — has alternating zones of argillite/mudstones and felsic rocks from surface up to 145 metres.
Alteration patterns in the second hole consist of pyrite, fuschite, calcite, carbonate, sericite, bioitite, hematite, epidote, silica and magnetite.
There are a host of other minerals present, which Kuhl described as a “kitchen sink” of pathfinder minerals.
“We’re very, very excited. What we need to do is drill more holes to see how extensive this mineralization is and whether the patterns keep repeating themselves.”
What’s interesting, he added, is that Barkerville Gold, with its nearby project, has recently announced an indicated resource of almost 11 million ounces, and Spanish Mountain Gold announced an indicated resource, also in proximity of the Black Bear Project.
“This is all interesting information and it’s going to draw people’s attention to the area. You could look at this as competition, but it really isn’t, because the more focus there is on this area the better it is for the economy of the whole area, whether it’s Quesnel, Williams Lake, Prince George or the whole area. It really bodes well.”