Formation Capital active at Black Pine

Drills at the Black Pine property in Idaho are slowly outlining a large copper-cobalt system for owner Formation Capital (VSE).

The property, visited recently by The Northern Miner, is 17 miles southwest of Salmon in what is known as the Idaho Cobalt Belt.

The belt, which stretches 64 miles, is characterized by stratiform copper-cobalt deposits hosted in a thick sequence of Precambrian rocks. Significant copper-cobalt mineralization occurs at two specific statigraphic levels along the belt. The mineralization is marked by iron-rich, exhalative activity and mafic volcanism which are believed to be related to hydrothermal activity along faults at the margin of the basin.

Formation Capital believes the Black Pine prospect may represent a third period of hydrothermal activity since it lies between the two known horizons. The potential of the area is highlighted by Noranda’s Blackbird mine, about seven miles to the northwest. Noranda outlined preliminary reserves at that deposit totaling seven million tons at 1.4% copper, 0.74% cobalt and 0.015 oz. gold per ton.

At least seven conformable, stratigraphic, copper-cobalt horizons have been identified at Black Pine over a stratigraphic interval of about 200 ft. and a strike length of at least 16,000 ft.

Bedding generally strikes northwesterly and dips at between 50 and 80 to the northeast.

Two of the mineralized horizons are higher-grade than the others, as evidenced by historic work on the property.

By 1947, previous operators completed about 1,000 ft. of underground workings on two levels on what is now known as the Swift East zone. Further work in the 1950s and 1960s included additional drifting and crosscuts on the two levels, with four small stopes raised on the upper level and one on the lower level.

A 150-ton-per-day mill was built on the property and in the early 1960s it produced an estimated 6,000 tons grading about 2% copper before shutting down. Reserves at the time of closure were 340,000 minable tons grading 3.5% copper. The known strike extent, prior to the start of Formation’s 1993 drilling, was about 1,200 ft. (based on the underground workings) and 6,000 ft. (based on geological information).

Since then, the company has completed more than 15,000 ft. of drilling in more than 45 holes. The drilled strike length has been expanded to about 6,000 ft. in a series of possibly connected mineralized zones strung out along the northwest-trending stratigraphy.

Drilling to date has been generally shallow, testing to about 300 ft. in depth while the company concentrates on strike extent.

Chief Geologist Phil Nisbet told The Northern Miner that the deposit has been the most forgiving on which he has worked, given that only five of the 47 holes drilled have missed mineralization — and two of those were drilled to define a fault.

Nisbet expects to complete another 9,000 ft. this year before shutting the project down for the winter. Drilling is likely to resume in March, 1994. President Scott Bending said the company still hasn’t determined the ultimate target on the property.

Given the drilling results to date, Formation has three options for possible development. These

include: an open-pit, heap-leach, solvent-extraction operation; an open-pit sulphide milling operation; and an underground mining operation on the higher-grade beds.

Copper mineralization is oxidized to depths of up to 100 ft., as evidenced by the colorful blues and greens of abundant copper sulphate mineralization in various trenches.

Copper values in the oxide zones can grade more than 1% copper, while the deeper sulphide material may be open-pittable if a large enough reserve can be outlined.

Drill results indicate the higher-grade sections average in the order of 3% copper over widths ranging from 10 to 25 ft. and include a gold credit in the order of 0.02 oz.

Cobalt values are low, relative to the Blackbird. They range from less than 0.01% to 0.4% in a 5-ft. intersection on the Swift West zone. Formation Capital also plans to test the potential for high-grade feeder zones or vents on the property.

Sampling of dump material around a shallow shaft dating back to the 1890s returned grades of more than 1 oz. gold and 0.6% cobalt. Nisbet plans to step back from the shaft and drill a deep hole to test the area at depth for a potential vent.

Other areas of interest on the property include a huge copper-in-soil anomaly, about 12,000 ft. to the southeast and along-trend from current drilling.

That target will be drilled next year and Bending expects to compile a reserve estimate from this year’s drilling early in the new year. Formation Capital is well-funded for the short term, with about $2 million in working capital and 7.8 million shares outstanding.