BP focusing on properties on east and west coasts

With a grassroots exploration budget of nearly $7 million this year, the mining division of BP Canada (TSE) is emphasizing its most promising base metal and gold properties in Newfoundland and British Columbia. Already the company has met with grassroots discovery success on its 2,070-square-mile Victoria Lake holdings in central Newfoundland, where a new high-grade zinc- lead-silver discovery was made recently at Daniel’s Pond.

“The geology of the Victoria Lake property is perfect for high- grade polymetallic discoveries,” says Robert Horn, vice-president of exploration for BP’s mining division. “What we’re looking for in Newfoundland are large polymetallic deposits like those mined previously at Buchans.”

He says several other high- priority gold targets are also being explored this year on the company’s Victoria Lake property in Newfoundland.

BP shut down its field exploration offices last year in Winnipeg, Man., Halifax, N.S., and Thunder Bay, Ont., as part of a plan to cut overhead costs and narrow its exploration focus. “We’re now focusing our main exploration efforts on areas that we feel have the most promise,” says Horn. “We’ve cut out some areas of exploration, and are not involved in others, such as the Eskay Creek gold play, where competition has become too heavy.”

In central British Columbia, BP is focusing its attention on a potential new generation of gold-copper porphyry deposits in the Omineca district.

Prefeasibility studies are under way on the Mt. Milligan gold- copper deposit where BP has a 30% stake with Vancouver-based Continental Gold (VSE) owning the remaining 70% interest. The two companies are involved in a legal dispute over the project. A trial date has been set for November. BP is seeking a greater interest in the property which it says should have been offered to the company under its right of first refusal. Rio Algom (TSE) and Hemlo Gold Mines (TSE) also have equity interests in Continental Gold.

Elsewhere in British Columbia, BP is a partner in two joint ventures which have discovered copper-gold mineralization similar to that at Mt. Milligan. Two of these, the Chuchi and Osilinka properties, are being drilled and have been the subject of recent progress reports by Digger Resources (VSE) and Lysander Gold Corp (VSE) respectively. In the 1990 summer season, 50/50 partners Digger and BP plan a $1.7-million program focused on a copper-gold porphyry system discovered last year on the Chuchi Lake property, 30 km west of Mt. Milligan.