Gitennes aims drills at Blacktop

Vancouver-based Gitennes Exploration (GIT-T) is awaiting permits to carry out preliminary drilling on the Blacktop polymetallic massive sulphide showing, situated on the Fox property, 26 km north of Merritt, B.C. The program is expected to begin in late February.

The junior recently closed a $300,000 private placement with Canaccord Capital to fund continuing exploration at the property. The 857,143 units, placed at 35 apiece, consisted of one flow-through share and one warrant allowing the holder to buy an additional non-flow-through share at 45 for 12 months.

Prior to the placement, the company had $600,000 in cash and 27.3 million shares outstanding, or 30.7 million fully diluted.

Gitennes was drawn to this area of the province by a local geologist’s discovery of massive sulphide zinc mineralization in boulders alongside the Coquihalla Highway. Realizing that massive sulphide mineralization represented a unique exploration target for the region, Gitennes optioned the 15-sq.-km property in September 2000 by issuing 200,000 shares and paying $30,000. To earn a 100% interest, the junior must make annual payments totalling $340,000 over four years. The vendor retains a 1.25% net smelter return royalty (NSR).

Gitennes added to its holdings by staking an additional 50 sq. km of surrounding ground.

The Blacktop prospect, a showing of polymetallic massive sulphide mineralization hosted by intermediate-to-felsic volcanic rocks of the Nicola group, has been intermittently traced in outcrop, bedrock rubble and float over a strike length of 100 metres before being obscured by overburden and surface debris.

The units hosting the sulphide mineralization strike northerly and appear to dip away from the 4-lane highway at a steep angle.

The exposed zone seems to be 2-4 metres thick, but the base is not exposed. Grab samples of the mineralized outcrop returned up to 19.75% zinc and 1.58% copper, plus 91.8 grams silver and 0.7 gram gold per tonne.

Scattered higher-grade boulders of dense massive sulphides occur throughout the length of the zone but have yet to be found in outcrop. The better of two boulder samples yielded 33.26% zinc, 3.22% copper, 0.86% lead, 144.7 grams silver and 1.06 grams gold.

Mapping and sampling

Short trenches and pits have been hand-dug through the backfill along the roadside, but this work failed to determine the true thickness of the zone, as the highest-grade and most promising-looking material occurs near the base of the roadcut at ditch-level. The base of one such trench yielded 1.1 metres grading 17% zinc, 1.6% copper, 0.47% lead, 76 grams silver and 0.49 gram gold. Some 20 metres away, a small pit exposed 1.2 metres grading 5.96% zinc, 0.18% copper, 0.07% lead, 65.2 grams silver and 0.12 gram gold.

A 475-line-km airborne electromagnetic (EM) survey was completed, and field crews have carried out property-wide mapping, prospecting and stream-sediment-sampling.

The Blacktop prospect is described by Gitennes as a conformable lens of baritic sphalerite-chalcopyrite-pyrite mineralization that occurs near the western edge of a distinct rock package of andesite-dacite volcanic tuffs and breccias, waterlain tuff, siliceous mudstone and polymictic breccia. To the west, this package is overlain by more magnetic basalt, andesitic flow breccias and volcaniclastic grit.

The contact between the two packages can be traced by airborne and ground magnetic surveys both north and south of the Blacktop showing for a distance of 8 km. Gitennes it has detected, along this corridor, several airborne electromagnetic and stream-sediment anomalies that warrant further investigation.

The mineralized zone is characterized by quartz-sericite schist, pyrite-sphalerite chert rock and barite-sphalerite cemented felsic breccia. Associated minerals include chalcopyrite, galena and tetrahedrite.

Anomaly detected

Ground induced-polarization (IP) surveys over the Blacktop prospect detected a coincident chargeability and resistivity anomaly over a length of 600 metres.

The southern limit of the anomaly extends beyond the surveyed portion of the grid. The relative strength and width of the anomaly varies over this distance, and several anomalous features are interpreted in the footwall of the main target.

To determine that the IP anomaly was not caused by culverts, powerlines, or fibre optic cables buried beneath the highway, four lines of horizontal-loop electromagnetics (HLEM) and soil sampling were done across a 300-metre length of the core of the anomaly. The HLEM revealed a thin, steeply west-dipping anomaly at an orientation consistent with the geology of the showing. The soil samples were analyzed with mobile metallic ion (MMI) technology at X-Ray Assay Laboratories in Toronto. The MMI technology is used to detect small quantities of metallic ions. Gitennes says it is often used in the search for deeply buried mineralization covered by sterile or manmade cover.

The MMI values over the geophysical target are anomalous in zinc, lead, copper, silver and gold. Gitennes says the results suggest a natural source, and not one of manmade origin.

Up to 1,200 metres of drilling will be carried out, beginning late in February. There will be three or four setups, with two holes per setup planned.

In the same area, Platinova A/S (pas-t) has acquired a sizable land holding, marking the company’s first property acquisition outside Greenland since its re-organization in 1991. Platinova has staked 41 sq. km in three blocks that tie directly on to Gitennes’ Fox property. The claims are subject to a 1.25% NSR, to be shared between Gitennes and the prospector who made the discovery, as well as a deferred $50,000 payment.

In addition, Platinova and Gitennes have jointly staked 19 sq. km of ground north of the Fox property.

In the spring, Platinova will conduct airborne and ground geophysical surveys, to be followed by geochemical sampling and geological mapping.

Fjordland

Meanwhile, Fjordland Minerals (FML-V) has picked up 392 claim units totalling 98 sq. km in the region. Half the claims are subject to a 1.25% NSR royalty held by Gitennes. The junior’s exploration plans are not yet formulated, though it is understood that flow-through funding will be used to finance an early program of airborne geophysics.

Fjordland has arranged a private placement financing of up to 2 million flow-through shares priced at 10 each for proceeds of up to $200,000.

Goldcliff Resource (GCN-V), another junior, recently added to its position in the area by staking a further 21 claims. Goldcliff’s Meadow Creek property, 40 km north of Merritt, was originally staked in 1995. The new staking of 15 claims increases the property block to 14.9 sq. km. The southern boundary of Meadow Creek adjoins the claim holdings of Gitennes and Platinova. Previous exploration at Meadow Creek targeted gold-silver prospects.

A further 2.5 km west of the Meadow Creek property, Goldcliff Resource picked up the 1.5-sq. km Powerline property, adjoining the northern claim boundaries of Gitennes and Fjordland.