1B lbs. copper estimated at Woodjam

B.C. has another member of the billion-pound copper club following an initial resource estimate on Gold Fields’ (GFI-N) and Consolidated Woodjam Copper’s (WCC-V) joint-venture property.

The resource estimate is based on the Woodjam project’s Southeast zone, and is one of the 573-sq.-km property’s several targeted zones near the town of Horsefly in central B.C.

Factoring in 31,700 metres of drilling in 80 holes, the Southeast zone is estimated to contain 146.5 million inferred tonnes grading 0.33% copper for 1.06 billion lbs. copper, with a 0.16% copper cut-off. Gold Fields used fairly stringent parameters for the initial resource, incorporating a US$7.50-per-tonne, net-smelter-return cut-off grade of an optimized pit shell that stops at 400 metres despite mineralization going as  deep as 700 metres, and not factoring in the potential gold, molybdenum and silver content.

Gold Fields states that the resource contains a 0.06-gram gold grade — a portion of which may be recovered as by-product — and gives no grades for molybdenum or silver.

Woodjam could look different once Gold Fields completes resource estimates on the nearby Megabuck and Deerhorn zones that have also seen extensive drilling, though the company has not indicated when that might be. 

Consolidated Woodjam noted that the Megabuck and Deerhorn zones show potential for increased gold content, demonstrated by hole 4-32 on Megabuck, which returned 275 metres grading 1.03 grams gold and 0.14% copper, and hole 11-30 at Deerhorn that hit 123 metres averaging 1.3 grams gold and 0.28% copper.

Gold Fields recently completed its 51% earn-in on the Woodjam North and South properties, and told Consolidated Woodjam that it intends to earn a further 19% of both properties as per the option agreement. 

To earn up to 70% in the properties Gold Fields has to spend $12 million at Woodjam North and US$8 million to complete a feasibility study at Woodjam South. The gold major has already announced plans to spend $5.5 million exploring Woodjam this year, including 20,000 metres of drilling.

The southeast resource sits below overburden 200 metres thick, with no outcrop. The zone is a calc-alkaline copper-moly-gold porphyry located entirely within the Takomkane batholith. Mineralization at the Southeast zone is predominantly hosted in fine chalcopyrite and pyrite stockwork, quartz-chalcopyrite and disseminated chalcopyrite in mafic mineral sites, and remains open in all directions.

Consolidated Woodjam listed on the TSX Venture exchange in December after Fjordland Exploration (FEX-V) and Cariboo Rose Resources (CRB-V) consolidated into one company their 60% and 40% interests in the Woodjam project. Cariboo shareholders were issued 20 million shares in Consolidated, and Fjordland shareholders were issued 30 million.

Since trading at 32¢ on Dec. 5 the company’s shares have exchanged as low as 25¢, while on news of the resource Consolidated Woodjam’s share price hit a 40¢ trading high before ending up 4¢, or 12.3%, at 36.5¢.