How the West Has Won:
In This Issue
Staying Ahead of the Game
Norm Duncan takes a break from his usual tradition of following a
specific company to take time out and tell us what he thinks people
can do to stay ahead of the game in times like these. There are lots
of ways to profit in inflationary times, and he's going to name a few.
What's in Store?
Where does BC mining go from here? That's a question on the hearts and
minds of many and Gavin C. Dirom, the new face at the helm of the Association
for Mineral Exploration of British Columbia, is here to answer it. The
fundamentals are still here, and that's what will pull us through to the
other side.
The Near Pavilions
Kevin Barker gives us the bird's eye view of Osisko Mining's Canadian Malartic
deposit in Quebec. As he says, Osisko can boast of owning Canada's largest
potential gold mine, but as he goes into great detail of why it is so great,
he wonders if the company will go the distance.
Preserving its Value
Nichola Eliovits drops by from the CPM group to fill us in on where gold is
right now in the face of the crisis. He says gold has done better than other
assets, and goes on to say why that is and how that will carry the metal through.
Worth the Wait
World economies are in tatters and investors are a little gun shy, but there are
golden rays of sunshine poking through. Gold may be down, but it's not out by any
means. As things shape up, which they surely will, gold will be prove that it is
always worth the wait.
The Greener Side of Mining
We may not be perfect, but it is hard to deny that we've come a very long way.
Modern mining practices and technologies have improved greatly. Most importantly,
though, are mining companies that are realizing greener mining is a good thing.
Bringing Sexy Back
Kevin Barker wants to bring sexy back to mining. He says there aren't many who will
admit that they are interested in mining, but it's time for us to get together and
explain to them that, if they think about it, they'll see there are lots of fascinating
angles to mining.
In Saskatchewan, diamonds are the news of the day as the 60/40 joint venture between Shore Gold (SGF:TSX) and Newmont Mining (NEM:NYSE) on Fort a La Corne continues to churn out interesting diamond results. The partners recently released the fifth set of results from underground bulk sampling of the Orion South kimberlite, and the news was definitely worth sharing. A total of 2809.11 dry tones of kimberlite were processed, yeilding 330.54 carats of stones. A total of 2,023 commercial-sized diamonds measuring greater than 1.18 mm in one dimension were recovered from nine batches of kimberlite. The packages included 32 stones weighing in at over one carat, including the four largest, which weighed 15.86, 6.18, 3.66 and 3.20 carats, respectively. Ten additional diamonds were recovered, with a total weight of just under 0.20 carats. Ninety-nine percent of the carat weight is made up of the commercial-sized stones. Thirty-five percent of the stones were white.
The big heavyweights in the western mineral industry game, however, are British Columbia and the Yukon. Between these two, they offer up more positive exploration news than just about any jurisdiction in Canada, perhaps a collective second only to Ontario.
Some of the biggest news here as of late includes word from Sherwood Copper, which has recently amalgamated with Capstone Mining under the ticker CS:TSX, on the Kutcho polymetallic project in BC. There, the last assays from 2008 work have increased continuity of high-grade copper. Highs from those assays reportedly included 3.18% copper, 1.02% zinc, 0.43 g/t gold and 54.0 g/t silver over 6.5 m in 32.7 m of 1.6% copper 1.4% zinc, 0.28 g/t gold and 27.0 g/t silver; 6.45% copper, 5.635 zinc, 3.34 g/t gold and 121.0 g/t silver over 5.0 m inside 10.5 m of 3.64% copper, 3.98% zinc, 1.72 g/t gold and 64.0 g/t silver; and, 3.84% copper, 3.84% zinc, 0.33 g/t gold and 52.0 g/t silver and 5.5 m of 2.62% copper, 0.92% zinc, 0.35 g/t gold and 41.0 g/t silver, both in 26.7 m of 1.93% copper, 1.56% zinc, 0.27 g/t gold and 28.0 g/t silver. Capstone is also working the nearby Minto mine, where final drill results have recently been reported. The results include multiple thick intercepts of near-surface good-grade copper/bold mineralization. Highs from the work include 6.43% copper, 1.64 g/t gold and 9.1 g/t silver over 3.4 m, 3.99% copper, 1.11 g/t gold and 6.3 g/t silver over 6.5 m and 1.56% copper, 0.47 g/t gold and 3.1 g/t silver over 21.1 m, all in 61.9 m of 0.97% copper, 0.26 g/t gold and 2.5 g/t silver.
Also in BC, results have come in for the last 11 holes completed at Silver Standard Resources' (SSO:TSX) Snowfield gold/copper project. According to the company, the 2008 program outlined the Snowfield North zone, which it is calling a "significant new zone of gold/copper mineralization." Highs included 1.62 g/t gold and 0.25% copper over 191.0 m in 300.0 m of 1.22 g/t gold; and 1.0 g/t gold and 0.17% copper over 243.0 m of 0.83 g/t gold and 0.17% copper. The Snowfield zone currently boasts a resource of 1.45 million measured tonnes grading 2.18 g/t for 101,500 ounces, 77.1 million indicated tonnes of 1.20 g/t for 2.98 million ounces and 14.4 million inferred tonnes of 1.01 g/t for 466,200 ounces. An updated resource is expected early in the New Year.
Things are looking wonderful for Klondike Silver (KS:TSX-V) in BC, as the company recently conducted chip sampling at its Wonderful mine near Sandon. There, 30 samples taken from various areas turned out results that included highlight values of 29.86% zinc, 7.09% lead and 228 g/t silver over 47.0 cm; 39.1% zinc, 2.4% lead and 139 g/t silver over 42.0 cm; 38.9% zinc, 0.1% lead and 79.0 g/t silver over 69.0 cm; and, 22.7% zinc, 15.3% lead and 300 g/t silver over 55.0 cm. The company says it is "pleased" with results of the work completed so far.
In the Yukon, latest round of results are in for the GOZ property, in which Almaden Minerals (AMM:TSX) holds a stake through its 33.2 percent ownership of Tarsis Capital (TCC:TSX-V). Highs included 17.19% zinc and 39.67 g/t silver over 27.91 m; 12.83% zinc and 10.91 g/t silver over 27.5 m; 10.32% zinc over 21.10 m in 37.67 m of 6.98% zinc; 6.67% zinc over 17.49 m in 24.59 m of 5.73% zinc; and, 20.21% zinc and 17.35 g/t silver over 2.96 m in 25.31 m of 7.0% zinc. The program tested the area down-dip and along strike from the known and historic resource of the Main zone, which stands at nearly 2.9 million tons of 11.25% zinc for 650.0 million pounds of metal.
Also in the west's northern reaches, StrataGold (SGV:TSX-V) is working the Dublin Gulch property. There, 2008 drilling targeted the Eagle zone deposit with 15 holes and nearly 4,500 m. Gold highs from that work reportedly included 2.74 g/t over 19.5 m, 100.18 m of 0.90 g/t and 90.0 m of 0.52 g/t. The Eagle zone reportedly remains open in four directions and at the time of writing, according to the company, a mineral resource incorporating 2008 drilling with results from 2006 and 2007, is expected by year's end.
And finally in the Yukon, we've had our eye on Northern Freegold Resources (NFR:TSX-V), as it continues to work the Freegold Mountain project. The 2008 program there included nine holes drilled on a projected strike extension of the newly discovered Ridge zone, which returned highlight values of 6.46 g/t gold, 116.2 g/t silver, 1.25% copper, 0.34% lead and 0.27% zinc over 5.75 m in 14.5 m of 4.29 g/t gold, 61.5 g/t silver, 0.67% copper, 0.24% lead and 0.21% zinc; and, 11.10 g/t gold, 310.0 g/t silver, 0.70% copper, 17.7% lead and 3.36% zinc over 0.5 m and 9.43 g/t gold, 174.77 g/t silver, 0.55% copper, 3.85% lead and 0.39% zinc over 1.3 m, both in 24.5 m of 1.18 g/t gold, 36.6 g/t silver, 0.11% copper, 1.2% lead and 0.53% zinc. Additional assays are pending for the Nucleus, Tinta, Goldy and Stoddart zones.
Western interests may falter slightly in turbulent times, but policies, initiatives and mineral rich deposits will continue to ensure a winning west as companies and their investors are drawn to what is almost always a sure thing.
