Bright Star targets platinum prospect

Vancouver — Bright Star Ventures (BSV-V) has outlined exploration targets on its 49-sq.-km Tulameen platinum project in the Cascade mountains of southwest British Columbia, about 26 km northwest of Princeton.

The company will focus on the 5.6-sq.-km Grasshopper Mountain prospect, where two previous operators detected strong platinum values in dunite intrusive rocks. Bright Star will target the area for “intensive exploration” to test new theories about the origin of placer platinum nuggets found in the Tulameen River, which drains Grasshopper Mountain. The Tulameen watershed was responsible for a recorded 20,000 oz. of placer platinum.

The Grasshopper claims cover a southwestern flank of Grasshopper Mountain. The claims are underlain by dunite and peridotite of the Early Jurassic-aged Tulameen ultramafic complex. It is classified as a zoned Alaskan-type intrusive complex. The dunite-rich core of the complex extends south-southeast from Grasshopper Mountain for 5 km to the Olivine Mountain claim group and is fringed by zones of clinopyroxenite and gabbro.

To date, five large outcrops have been found to contain significant platinum group metal (PGM) values. Channel samples across a platinum-bearing chromite zone returned 7.8 grams platinum and 20% chromium over 3 metres, as well as 15 grams platinum and 5.6% chromium over 2 metres. In 1986, Newmont Exploration Canada drilled a chromiferous dunite measuring 800 by 300 metres. Significant intercepts returned 4.7 grams platinum over 5.57 metres and 5.58 grams platinum over 1.64 metres.

Bright Star can earn a 100% interest on the Grasshopper claims by paying $40,000 in cash and $200,000 in exploration expenditures over the next two years. In addition, the junior must issue issuing 300,000 shares and maintain annual property payments. The property is subject to a 2% net smelter return royalty.

A second target is the gabbro rocks southeast of Olivine Mountain. This area hosts strong magnetic-resistivity anomalies, which were outlined last year during an airborne geophysical survey.

A portion of the company’s wholly owned BJP-1 claim block, which hosts the magnetic-resistivity anomalies, has been subjected to a soil-sampling geochemistry program. Results indicate an copper-palladium-platinum-gold anomaly covering 400 by 600 metres. The multi-element assay results returned up to 500 parts per million copper, 50 parts per billion platinum, 230 ppb palladium and 60 ppb gold. Grab samples taken on and north of the grid returned consistently high values of up to 3% copper and 2.6 grams combined gold and palladium per tonne.

Bright Star believes there may be a bedrock source to the mineralization, and will carry out soil sampling and trenching over the South Olivine target area.