Issue link: http://resourceworld.uberflip.com/i/1152269
A U G U S T / S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 9 www.resourceworld.com 41 MINING million tonnes grading 5.0 g/t gold). The resource study is based on 400,000 metres of drilling (56,000 m of historical drilling) comprising 3,426 drill holes at a 3.0 g/t cutoff. The resource is still open down dip and along strike. One of the largest and highest grade resources reported in the province in recent years, the resources occur within a series of mineral tenures that include the entire core of the historic gold district. BGM's properties encompass approxi - mately 195,000 hectares across a belt that is 67 km long by 25 km wide, a huge swath of geologically prospective ground that has yet to be fully evaluated. The area includes 101 creeks that have reported placer gold pro - duction and five past producing mines. Over its entire history the camp has produced approximately 4.5 million ounces of gold from both placer and hard rock sources. Deposit types on the project consist of vein and replacement-type deposits and gold mineralization is exhibited in numerous styles including: fault fill veins sub-parallel to lithology hosted in carbo - naceous mudstone; vertical NE-trending extensional veins dominantly hosted by sandstone units; moderately dip- ping ENE-trending shear veins hosted in sandstone units; gold-bearing sulphide replacement mineralization hosted in fold hinges of calcareous sandstone units; and gold-bearing sulphide replacement min - eralization hosted in calcareous siltstone units bounded by fault structures. Mineralized quartz veins on the Cariboo Gold Project are generally sub-vertical dip- ping and northeast striking. Vein corridors are defined as a high-density network of mineralized quartz veins within the sand- stones. These corridors have been defined from surface to a vertical depth averaging 300 metres and remain open for expansion at depth and down plunge. Gold grades are intimately associated with vein-hosted pyrite as well as pyritic, intensely silicified wall rock haloes in close proximity to the veins. According to the company, "Analysis of the Cariboo district's historical mining record, undertaken by BGM, implies a strong possibility that the area will con - tinue to yield gold-containing ore over the long-term. Three mines are particularly notable in this regard: Mosquito Creek and Aurum local to Island Mountain, and Cariboo Gold Quartz found on Cow Mountain. Gold has predominantly been extracted from pyrite replacement ore from Mosquito Creek, while at Cow Mountain quartz vein ore was mined." Based on the results of the 2018 resource estimate, the company's indepen - dent geological consultant recommends that the Cariboo Gold Project move to an advanced phase of development, which would include the preparation of a feasi- bility study that will include all six known deposits: Cow, Valley, Shaft, Mosquito, Bonanza Ledge and BC Vein. Recent drilling from the Island Mountain Mosquito Creek deposit returned 45.94 g/t gold over 5.2 metres, including 399 g/t gold over 0.50 metres. A multi-year development scenario envisions a low Capex project, phased growth to 200K oz per year from gold- rich veins and replacement mineralization along with year-round access and ser - vices. At this early development stage, the project has a permitted 875 tpd mill and tailings facility in addition to strong First Nations and stakeholder support. Among the company's development priorities will be to update resources with an additional 80,000 metres of resource expansion drilling in 2019 and the filing of mine permitting studies over the next 18 months. BGM is targeting an initial produc - tion rate of 135,000 oz/year by 2022 from a wholly underground operation employing contract mining. Ore will be trucked to the company's 100%-owned QR mill 110 km away near Quesnel. Construction of a new mill by 2024 would allow for an increase in annual production to 200,000 oz. n Part of the Cariboo gold project, a view of the Bonanza Ledge 150,000-tonne test mine. Photo courtesy Barkerville Gold Mines Ltd.