Issue link: http://resourceworld.uberflip.com/i/832998
30 www.resourceworld.com J U N E / J U L Y 2 0 1 7 Insights & Investments by Barry Muir T he three primary geographic regions of Canada are the Canadian Shield, the Great Plains and the Pacific or Canadian Cordillera. Cordillera in Spanish simply means "mountain ranges" and British Columbia sits within this mountain belt that runs along the western edge of the Western Hemisphere conti- nents from Alaska to the Antarctic. In British Columbia, the Cordillera is made up of five, northwest-trending belts: Foreland, Omineca, Intermontane, Coastal and Insular. Separated from each other by faults, the unique geological character- istics of each belt determine the mineral resources each one contains. Major coal deposits, for example, are predominant in the sedimentary sequences of the Foreland belt in the southeast part of the province. The economic, copper-molybdenum, porphyry deposits are predominantly asso- ciated with granitic intrusions within the Intermontane belt that runs up the centre of the province. Through the heart of this belt runs the Quesnel Trough within the Nicola Group of volcanic rock types. The Nicola Group is the most prolific porphyry belt in Canada with porphyry deposits in production such as the Teck Resources [TECK-TSX.B] Highland Valley Mine, Taseko Mines' [TKO-TSX] Gibraltar, Imperial Metals' [III-TSX] Mt. Polley, New Gold's [NGD-TSX] Afton, Centerra Gold's [CG-TSX] Mt. Milligan and Copper Mountain Mining's [CMMC- TSX] Copper Mountain Mine. KGHM's [KGH-WA] past-producing Ajax Mine project is not in production. There are plenty of junior exploration companies along these belts with varying degrees of progress such as Yellowhead Mining's [YMI-TSXV] Harper Creek copper-gold-silver project near Vavenby, Spanish Mountain Gold [SPA-TSXV] near Likely and Barkerville Gold Mines [BGM-TSXV] near Wells. Here we will look at six exploration companies. Happy Creek Minerals Ltd. [HPY- TSXV] is advancing two new exploration discoveries. Their 100%-owned Rateria and West Valley copper properties adjoin Teck's Highland Valley Copper Mine and their 100%-owned Fox tungsten property has a large scale mineral system with grades that are among the best in the industry. Tungsten is a highly sought after min- eral known for its toughness and has few substitutes. It's very dense much like gold, very resistant to corrosion and almost impossible to melt. Its uses as a compound are found in tungsten carbide saw blades, drill bits, even bullets and missiles. China controls about 80% of the world's tung- sten while the US produces only 1% of the amount it consumes. Happy Creek's plans are to increase the resource base then conduct a Preliminary Economic Assessment. The Fox is on track to be an important new tungsten develop- ment project in the Western World. Consolidated Woodjam Copper Corp. [WCC-TSXV] has the Woodjam property in the heart of the Cariboo region near the town of Horsefly. In 2009, Research Capital chose the Woodjam as one of the world's most exciting new discoveries with most drill holes having mineralization from bedrock to the bottom of the holes. The property has plenty of historic data going back to the mid-1960s. Consolidated Woodjam now has a 100% interest in the multi-deposit Woodjam Project as it has purchased joint venture partner Gold Fields [GFI-NYSE] (one of the world's largest unhedged pro- ducers of gold) 51% interest in the project Exploring British Columbia's Quesnel Trough Diamond drilling on the Southeast Zone at the Woodjam property in the Cariboo region near the town of Horsey, British Columbia. Photo courtesy Consolidated Woodjam Copper Corp.