Canarc renews efforts at New Polaris

Vancouver – A $2.7-million drilling program by Canarc Resource (CCM-T, CRCUF-Q) is expected to result in a new resource estimate and preliminary mine plan for the New Polaris gold property, 60 km south of Atlin, northwestern British Columbia.

The project includes a past-producing underground mine built in 1936, which operated from 1937 to 1942, and again from 1946 to 1951. A total of 231,000 oz. gold was produced during those periods.

The mine closed in 1951 after a Tacoma-bound ship laden with gold-rich concentrates sank in a coastal storm. The mine sat dormant for 30 years, until Canarc revived the project in the early 1990s.

Canarc spent $15 million in the 1990s exploring the project, and outlined a resource of 3.6 million tons grading 0.36 oz. gold per ton. This historic estimate is based on 200 drill holes, but is not yet compliant with National Instrument (NI) 43-101 reporting standards.

Canarc plans to carry out a 60-hole, phase-three drill program starting this spring and running until the third quarter. Drills will target the C and Y vein systems to generate an updated resource estimate compliant with NI-43-101 standards in the measured, indicated and inferred categories. The company expects that the 18,600-metre program should be sufficient to allow for a minimum resource of 600,000 contained oz. for mine-planning purposes.Along with the new resource estimate, the company intends to have a conceptual mine plan and initial economic evaluation in hand by the third quarter. This will allow the company to apply for mine permits by the end of this year, with a view to starting full feasibility and permitting in 2007.

The project is adjacent to the Tulsequah polymetallic project, a past producer held by Redcorp Ventures (RDV-T). Tulsequah faced stiff opposition from environmentalists opposed to mine development, but Redcorp eventually prevailed and now holds permits for both road access and mine development. Canarc plans to use the public documents from that process to speed up and guide its permitting efforts.

New Polaris has refractory mineralization. Canarc reports that initial metallurgical test-work showed that up to 96.4% of the gold is recoverable into concentrate by grinding the ore to 95% minus 200 mesh, and then running it through three cycles of rougher flotation. Pressure-leaching and bio-oxidation tests of the flotation concentrates followed by cyanide leaching of the oxidized cons resulted in overall gold recoveries of 95% and 88.9%, respectively.

Canarc says its ‘preferred metallurgical alternative’ is to ship gold concentrates to third-party processing facilities elsewhere, as was done in the past. While this option is under consideration, the final decision will be made after additional metallurgical tests are done and the final feasibility study is in hand.