BRT fails to yield base metals for Roca Mines

Vancouver — The 7-hole program cut a thick sequence of the favourable felsic unit, but only sporadic gold values were encountered. Hole 11, which tested the stratigraphy immediately downdip and northeast along strike of the showing, yielded 7.92 grams gold per tonne over 2.3 metres. The gold mineralization occurs in a 15.9-metre section of laminated, disseminated-to-semi-massive pyrite with minor sphalerite and galena.

Holes 5 through 7 tested the downdip extension of the sulphide horizon to the southwest, returning only anomalous gold values.

About 100 metres south of the showing, hole 8 failed to return any significant values, whereas hole 9 returned 0.94 gram gold over 1.8 metres.

The Foremore property is sandwiched between Barrick Gold‘s (ABX-T) Eskay Creek operation and SpectrumGold‘s recently acquired Galore Creek copper-gold porphyry deposit.

In its inaugural drill program, Roca put down four holes into the SG showing where mineralization is hosted in quartz-sericite altered intermediate to felsic volcanics. Grab samples returned up to 23.8% combined lead-zinc plus 20.1 grams gold. The assay results are still pending.

The company drilled the remaining holes 3.5 km northeast into the BRT area, where Roca discovered massive sulphide mineralization uphill from the North Boulder field. Samples collected from outcrop yielded an average of 10.2% zinc, 8.6% lead and 0.27% copper, plus 2.04 grams gold and 186.6 grams silver per tonne over 3 metres. The planar sulphide body is hosted in chlorite-sericite-pyrite schist that has been deformed into a 20 south-to-southeast-plunging antiform. The zone, which lies at the transition between well-stratified deformed phyllitic sedimentary rocks and an overlying mafic volcanic package, occurs structurally and stratigraphically below the horizon that hosts the SG showing. The alteration at the BRT zone indicates a low-sulphidation, volcanic-hosted massive sulphide type of mineralization. Gold values often exceed 2 grams, making the zone a likely candidate for precious metal enrichment, with the gold showing a strong correlation with arsenic and not barite.