- Tudor Gold Corp. has released the final results of the 2016 exploration program conducted at the Electrum Project JV located in northwest BC’s “Golden Triangle” near Stewart
- Bulk Sample with 539 g/t Ag With 2.82 g/t Au and 1.97% Zn
CARDSTON, ALBERTA–(Jan. 12, 2017) – American Creek Resources Ltd. (TSX VENTURE:AMK) (“American Creek”) is pleased to report that Tudor Gold Corp. (“Tudor”) has released the final results of the 2016 exploration program conducted at the Electrum Project JV located in northwest BC’s “Golden Triangle” near Stewart.
Background
The Electrum project is a 60:40 joint venture between Tudor (as operator) and American Creek. The Electrum property is located directly between the past producing Silbak Premier mine some 25 Km south and Pretium Resources’ Brucejack deposit some 20 Km to the north (currently under development with production targeted for 2017). Within that same area are several other past producing mines as well as new projects undergoing exploration. One small area of the Electrum property itself includes the site of the historic East Gold mine which was mined by hand between 1939 and 1965, and which produced 3,816 oz of gold and 2,442 oz of silver from 45 tons of hand selected ore (BC Ministry of Mines Assessment Report 30206); mining operations ceased with the unfortunate and untimely death of the mine operator. More recently, the Scottie Gold mine operated from 1981 to 1985 approximately five kilometers from the Electrum property. The current owners of the Scottie Gold mine, Rotation Minerals Ltd., note on their website that the mine “milled vein material averaging 16.20 g/t gold, producing 2,967,748 grams of gold (95,426 ounces gold) from 183,147 tonnes of mineralization” (these historic production values have not been independently verified).
Tudor was attracted to the Electrum property by the presence of a complex system of mineralized fault structures within which are networks of gold and silver bearing quartz veins. The gold and silver typically occurs within these veins as electrum, a naturally occurring amalgam of both metals.
The complexity of both the fault structures and the vein networks make it very difficult to specifically target the veins of gold and silver bearing materials using conventional surface-based exploration techniques such as diamond drilling or magnetotelluric surveys. With that in mind, Tudor set out to develop an exploration program which includes sub-surface exploration techniques and which targets mineralization rather than just vein structures. In this way, Tudor will gain a better and more useful understanding of the overall geology of the property.
The success of the East Gold mine demonstrates that the mineralized fault material is accessible using conventional underground mining systems and practices. The cost of either rehabilitating the East Gold mine or opening new adits is, however, prohibitive at this stage of the project’s development. Tudor is instead focused on a scalable bulk sampling program which would, if warranted, conclude with the development of an open-cut mine of sufficient size to generate both a return for shareholders and financing for further exploration on the property. As with other properties in this area of the “Golden Triangle”, an open-cut mine could be carried out in association with related conventional underground mining.
Tudor’s exploration programs and long-term planning take into account two of the key economic advantages of the Electrum property; it is within 4 kilometers of a power-line, and the property is adjacent to an established haul road leading to the bulk terminal and deep-water port at Stewart.
2016 Exploration Program
The exploration program achieved the following three goals set for the 2016 field season:
- Diamond drilling aimed at furthering the exploration work previously carried out by American Creek,
- Trench sampling of a newly discovered mineralized surface exposure in what is now referred to as the “New Blast Zone”, and
- Collection and analysis of a 4 tonne bulk sample from the New Blast Zone.
In addition to the work aimed at achieving these goals, work carried out during the 2016 field season included the construction of temporary (removable) bridges and the stabilization and improvement of road access to ensure safe and efficient access to the property.
2016 Diamond Drilling
Nineteen drill holes totaling 1,406 meters were completed. A total of 1492 core samples were collected and assayed. The 2016 drilling program was carried out to extend and expand on the drilling programs carried out by American Creek in previous years. The results of the 2015 American Creek drilling program included these findings previously released by American Creek:
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|
|
|
|
|
| Drill Hole |
From (m) |
To (m) |
Interval (m) |
Gold (g/t) |
Silver (g/t) |
| EL15-02 |
9.0 |
10.0 |
1.0 |
1.04 |
78.0 |
| EL15-03 |
16.5 |
17.5 |
1.0 |
6.09 |
242.0 |
| EL15-04 |
32.0 |
33.0 |
1.0 |
6.76 |
38.0 |
| EL15-05 |
28.0 |
29.0 |
1.0 |
1.31 |
189.0 |
|
35.0 |
36.0 |
1.0 |
6.93 |
62.0 |
| EL15-07 |
13.0 |
14.0 |
1.0 |
14.65 |
22.0 |
|
14.0 |
15.0 |
1.0 |
6.59 |
461.0 |
|
35.0 |
36.0 |
1.0 |
3.47 |
58.0 |
| EL15-08 |
1.0 |
2.0 |
1.0 |
1.05 |
89.0 |
One of the key goals of both the American Creek and Tudor drilling programs was to confirm that mineralized exposures visible on the surface carried on at depth below the surface. The results of these drilling programs do suggest that, as expected, mineralization carries on at depth.
Of particular interest, holes TG16-13-UTM, TG16-14-UTM, and TG16-15-UTM reveal sub-surface mineralization in the area generally below the newly identified “New Blast Zone”. Because of the complexity of the fault structures in this area, however, Tudor is currently unable to state with the certainty required by NI 43-101 that the sub-surface mineralization confirms the presence of an unbroken, continuous zone of mineralization linking these drill holes with the surface mineralization.
Trench Sampling
As noted in the Tudor news release issued September 12, 2016, a trenching program was carried out on the New Blast Zone. The program targeted a vein system which is infilled with a fine-grained blackish, blue-grey mineralization. The structure includes wide sharp edged quartz fragments in a foliated sulphide-quartz-carbonate matrix; the sulphides are pyrite, pyrrhotite, with thin galena/silver seams.
Twelve representative specimens were collected across the vein structure. Assays of those specimens yielded averages of 3,461.92 grams (111.30 oz) silver per tonne and 2.24 grams gold per tonne. Complete results of the trench sampling may be found in the noted news release on the Tudor website at www.tudor-gold.com.
Four Tonne Bulk Sample
Following the success of the trench sampling program, a 4 tonne bulk sample was collected from the New Blast Zone. The sample was collected utilizing localized blasting resulting in an exposed face of approximately 120 square meters, and a total rubble pile of approximately 600 cubic meters, from which was selected approximately 4 tonnes of representative material.
The collected bulk material was then crushed to a size of “3 inch minus” using a crusher at a quarry in Mission, British Columbia. The crushed material was then provided to ALS Global’s metallurgical laboratory (‘ALS’) in Kamloops, BC for metallurgical processing and testing. The processing included the use of rod and ball mill grinding followed by both floatation and gravity separation. The resultant material was then analyzed in four separate test runs over four consecutive days. The overall results of the analysis are set out in the following table:
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|
|
|
|
| Au (g/t) |
Ag (g/t) |
PB (%) |
Zn (%) |
Sulphur (%) |
| 2.82 |
539 |
1.96 |
1.97 |
13.8 |
As with the trenching program, Tudor is very encouraged by these results. A complete description of the processing and testing employed by ALS will be added to the Tudor website at www.tudor-gold.com.
2017 Exploration Program
Tudor is satisfied that the results of the 4 tonne bulk sample program, together with all previous exploration work on the property, justifies scaling up the exploration program on the Electrum property. Tudor is satisfied that all of these results justify long-term planning based on an assumption that currently known mineralization on the property has the potential to support a modest sized open-cut mine that can be scaled up as further exploration dictates.
Subject to obtaining all necessary permits and financing, the current plan for the 2017 field season is to carry out the largest possible bulk sample program along with an as yet to be determined amount of diamond drilling.
The anticipated bulk sample program will utilize commercially available mining equipment commonly used in open-pit mining. Blasting will be carried out with the use of track-mounted drills, and on-site crushing will be carried out with the use of track-mounted crushers. It is anticipated that crushed, mineralized material will be hauled to Stewart and from there it will be transported to an appropriate smelter for final processing.
Walter Storm, Tudor President and CEO, stated: “We are very pleased with the results of the work on the Electrum this summer. Not only have we confirmed and increased the known mineralized gold and silver zones, we have also begun to develop a much better understanding of the geology of the property and we are satisfied that we have a proper basis for expanding our exploration program.”
Darren Blaney, American Creek CEO stated: “We are very pleased with what Walter and the Tudor team have accomplished with this initial program. The bulk sample results are very encouraging and indicate the future potential of the property. We are very much looking forward to 2017.”
The Qualified Person for the Electrum property and the technical data in this new release is James McCrea, P. Geo. for the purposes of National Instrument 43-101.
American Creek also has other projects in BC’s prolific “Golden Triangle” including the Treaty Creek Project which is a joint venture between Tudor, American Creek and Teuton Resources Corp. and the 100% owned Dunwell property package which encompasses the past producing Dunwell gold/silver mine.
Information relating to the Corporation is available on its website at www.americancreek.com.
Cautionary Statements regarding Forward-Looking Information: Certain statements contained in this press release constitute forward-looking information. These statements relate to future events or future performance. The use of any of the words “could”, “intend”, “expect”, “believe”, “will”, “projected”, “estimated” and similar expressions and statements relating to matters that are not historical facts are intended to identify forward-looking information and are based on the Company’s current belief or assumptions as to the outcome and timing of such future events. Actual future results may differ materially.
All statements including, without limitation, statements relating to the potential mineralization and geological merits of the Electrum property and other future plans, objectives or expectations of the Company are forward looking statements that involve various risks and uncertain ties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company’s plans or expectations include risks relating to the actual results of current exploration activities, fluctuating gold prices, possibility of equipment breakdowns and delays, exploration cost overruns, availability of capital and financing, general economic, market or business conditions, regulatory changes, timeliness of government or regulatory approvals and other risks detailed herein and from time to time in the filings made by the Company with securities regulators. The Company expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise except as otherwise required by applicable securities legislation.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
