Milligan feasibility planned by Lincoln, BP

Located 45 km west of Mackenzie in northcentral British Columbia, the Mt. Milligan deposit hosts a geological inventory in excess of 20 million tons grading 0.02-0.03 oz gold and 0.3%-0.5% copper per ton.

However, drilling being completed by United Lincoln and BP Canada Resources (TSE) suggests that the objective of 200 million tons of similar grades is attainable, Robert Dickinson, president of United Lincoln, explained during an interview. Lincoln and BP hold a 70% and 30% respective interest in the project.

At this scale, Mt. Milligan would join the ranks of British Columbia’s largest porphyry copper deposits, many of which developed into a group of large-tonnage, low-grading open pit mining complexes during the 1960s.

Mt. Milligan’s most favorable attribute is its relatively high gold grade, which averages 0.025 oz gold. According to Dickinson, at a mining rate of 35,000 tons per day, the project would yield 200,000 oz of gold and 74 million lb of copper per year. This scenario uses a gold and copper grade of 0.025 oz and 0.35% per ton respectively.

“We have the right deposit at the right time,” Dickinson said, referring to the boom in copper prices and industry’s continuing interest in gold. As a result, the company, which will be merged with parent Continental Gold Cor (VSE) shortly, will focus all its energy on developing Mt. Milligan.

Gold and copper mineralization are associated with strongly altered volcanic rocks which have been intruded by a 3,000-ft wide monzonite stock. Volcanics flanking this intrusive form the main exploration target. Initial metallurgical testing suggests gold recoveries will exceed 70%. “Every piece of gold we can see is free or on the grains of pyrite,” Dickinson explained.

The latest drilling has returned considerable encouragement from both the 66 gold zone and the MBX copper-gold zone. (Both zones actually grade into each other towards the north.) Some of the better holes from the former zone include 89-88 which intersected 209.9 ft grading 0.067 oz gold and 0.06% copper. Other gold-enriched sections from the 66 zone include hole 89-84 which cut 283.8 ft assaying 0.063 oz gold. This last intersection came from a much wider 1,004.7-ft section which assayed 0.023 oz gold.

On the MBX zone, drilling has intersected copper-gold mineralization to a depth of 850 ft. Latest results include 399.5 ft grading 0.22% copper and 0.023 oz gold per ton. Another hole intersected 841 ft grading 0.24% c opper and 0.012 oz gold per ton.

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