Initial reserves encouraging for Better’s Vancouver Island

An active drilling program on Better Resources’ Mt. Washington project on Vancouver Island, B.C., has indicated a healthy reserve potential for the property.

Drill-indicated reserves, based on a 0.03-oz-per-ton cutoff, are 1,527,300 tons averaging 0.112 oz gold and 0.69 oz silver. Of this, 419,900 tons grading 0.116 oz gold and 0.58 oz silver are available to open pit mining.

This represents 171,500 oz of gold and 1,052,000 oz of silver, of which 48,000 oz gold and 243,000 oz silver could be mined by open pit methods, the company reports.

The figures are based on 22,073 ft of diamond drilling in 89 holes in 1987 and previous drilling of 7,838 ft in 57 holes in the Lakeview/ Domineer area. The ore lies in a 1,200-ft-long area, running north- south. However, the gold geochemical anomaly extends another 3,600 ft north of the area drilled and this extension will be drilled in 1988.

Flow-through share funding of $907,000 recently completed with nim and an additional $800,000 in term deposits will be used to finance the program.

Metallurgical testing is under way and the additional drilling will allow new reserve calculations leading to a feasibility study.