Barker raises funds for Frank Creek

Vancouver — Central B.C. explorer Barker Minerals (BML-V, BKMNF-O) is drumming up more money in its quest to prove up the potential of its Frank Creek polymetallic project, located 77 km northeast of Williams Lake.

The persistent junior recently put together a modest $700,000 non-brokered financing — with insiders taking down the lion’s share — earmarked for ongoing exploration at Frank Creek.

The latest trench sampling at the project focused on a newly identified area of stringer and massive sulphide mineralization returning several intervals of minor copper-lead-zinc, plus silver and gold. Some grab samples returned higher-grade values of up to 1.6% copper, 3.7% zinc, 2.9% lead and 36.3 grams silver per tonne.

Since the mid-1990s, Barker has assembled a sizable land position in the area and identified significant volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) potential.

Located on the periphery of the historic Cariboo alluvial goldfields, the project area saw some placer activity during the mid-1980s — resulting in the discovery of several massive sulphide boulders.

A 1999 sampling program by Barker found significant massive sulphide mineralization in boulders — with assays of up to 15% lead, 3.5% zinc, 1.3% copper and 685 grams silver per tonne.

Follow-up trenching exposed a weathered boulder zone with a stratiform massive sulphide layer about 1.5 metres thick and with 10 metres of strike length. The zone exhibited a sub-parallel trend to a major foliation in surrounding bedrock, indicating it may be sub-crop.

Massive sulphide mineralization at Frank Creek is situated near the stratigraphic top of a fragmental felsic volcanic suite or a possible feldspathic arkose. Felsic units overlie sequences of black argillites, siltstones and an intermediate-to-mafic volcanic sequence of flows and fine fragmentals.

The company says a metamorphic overprint over the entire sequence has impeded interpretation. However, the discovery of pillow structures in the mafic volcanics indicates a seafloor environment — a positive sign for VMS potential.

Limited past drilling by Barker at Frank Creek has focused on areas of coincident geochemistry and geophysical anomalies. Several holes drilled in 2004 intersected “Besshi-type” mineralization with an altered feeder zone — up to roughly 70 metres wide — containing lower-grade copper-lead-zinc values.

Within the feeder zone, narrow sulphide mineralized bands were sampled returning grades of up to 5.7% copper, 1% lead, 6.7% zinc, 73 grams silver and 1.7 grams gold per tonne.

Last year, the company also completed an initial round of drilling on its Kangaroo project, located several kilometres west of Frank Creek. The program of nine holes — totalling about 2,000 metres — returned up to 1.5 metres of 15.7 grams gold with mineralization noted in a variety of rock types (basaltic breccias, volcaniclastics, siltstones and dioritic to monzodioritic intrusives) similar to those at Cross Lake Minerals’ (crn-t, crnkf-o) QR mine, just west of the project.

Barker shares recently slipped to around 14, giving the company a $7.2-million market capitalization based on its 51.5 million shares outstanding.