Bitech to go underground at Nugget Pond property

Although it is small by industry standards, the Nugget Pond deposit has an attractive grade which averages around 0.41 oz gold per ton. At that grade, the company says production costs could be as low as $192(US) per oz.

According to Bitech, the Nugget Pond deposit “appears to be large enough to support an operation of 300 tonnes per day for a period of about five years.” The Toronto-based junior has just released the final assay results from a 20,000-m surface drilling campaign on the Nugget Pond property.

After completing the drill program, Bitech is confident it has a deposit with geological reserves of 513,744 tonnes grading 14.13 g gold per tonne (566,000 tons grading 0.41 oz uncut).

That estimate is a slight improvement over an earlier figure — 505,000 tonnes averaging 12 g (0.35 oz) per tonne — announced in May.

The planned underground exploration program will include shaft sinking, level development, diamond drilling and metallurgical testing for a final feasibility study. The program is expected to take 21 months to complete, and if successful, will lead to a production decision, says Bitech.

The recent drill program was completed under a joint venture agreement with Equity Silver Mines (TSE), the silver mining subsidiary of Placer Dome Inc (TSE).

Bitech says “discussions are ongoing with Equity Silver regarding the next stage of the project.”

One drill machine is currently at work finishing off some deep holes on the property.

Highlights from the recently released drill results are as follows: IntervalWidthGrade Hole(m)(m)(g/t) 32172.4-175.4 3.013.4 34169.4-171.5 2.114.1 35159.5-172.2 2.713.8 36182.8-192.6 9.810.4 40104.7-105.3 0.616.4 49113.4-122.6 9.2 4.6 53121.6-124.3 2.713.9 67126.3-128.2 1.919.4 68148.0-151.5 3.513.0 69120.3-139.619.310.4 70A116.4-131.615.211.2 7194.4-98.4 4.031.2 7384.0-93.3 9.3 9.8 7476.3-78.5 2.249.8 8947.7-48.7 1.029.4

In other news, Bitech is preparing to file a prospectus to take public its subsidiary company, Betts Cove Minerals. The latter holds property situated southwest of Nugget Pond. Surface mapping, trenching and sampling are currently under way on the Betts Cove property as part of a $350,000 exploration program. The objective of the program is to outline targets for a fall drilling campaign.

On the company’s other claims, acquired from Tashogan Minerals near Tilt Cove, several geochemical anomalies have been located as the result of a $150,000 exploration program.

Bitech says its 14-km land position at Nugget Pond and vicinity has been only partially explored in detail during the past year. Exploration to date has focused on a strike length of 1,200 m and to a depth of 400 m around the Nugget Pond deposit.

“The area between the old Betts Cove and Tilt Cove mines contains a great deal of unexplored ground,” says Bitech.

There are currently 23.6 million common shares of Bitech issued and outstanding, of which 2.47 million are escrowed. On a fully diluted basis, there would be 30.1 million shares issued. Bitech’s president owns 3.6 million shares, while NIM, an investment fund, owns 4.0 million.

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