International Wayside hits hot values

Junior International Wayside Gold Mines (IWA-V) has encountered a previously unknown style of gold mineralization in the footwall of the BC Vein at its Cariboo project in the Quesnel Highlands of central British Columbia.

The Cariboo project encompasses the original Cariboo Gold Quartz, Island Mountain, Aurum and Mosquito Creek gold mine properties. Wayside has an option to earn a 100% interest in the entire project from Mosquito Consolidated Gold Mines (msq-v) in return for cash payments totalling $4 million. Mosquito also holds a 3% net smelter return royalty, which can be purchased for US$4.2 million, and the property is also subject to a 10% net profits interest.

The BC Vein is exposed on surface for a continuous length of 2,400 ft. and averages 20 ft. in width. The vein strikes northwest and dips 70 towards the north. When the drill hole testing the eastern extension of the vein cut into the footwall, the underlying phyllite was found to host significant gold mineralization.

The gold appears to be associated with numerous pyrite-enriched zones (grading between 10% and 60%). The phyllites are strongly folded and crenulated with prevalent sercite alteration. The gold is thought to be controlled by folding and may be related to a late-stage fluid-flow associated with the overall alteration. Unlike the pyrite-replacement-type ore, no apparent carbonate is associated with the new mineralization.

On a recent visit to the property, The Northern Miner learned from Wayside geologist Richard Hall that the company was about ready to quit exploring the historic BC Vein structure and move on to other targets. “We decided to step out 1,500 ft. to the opposite side of a projected fault zone,” Hall recalled. Three holes were put down to try to pick up the vein, but no mineralization was encountered. A few more holes were collared on the vein, halfway between the fault zone and a previously tested area. These holes were terminated as soon as they passed through the vein structure. Luckily, one of the holes penetrated deeper into the footwall rock. “We basically stumbled on to it,” said Hall. “When the hole was logged, the mineralization was noticed in the footwall, and away we went.”

Drill holes 3 and 4 were collared on the same drill pad and were the first to encounter the new mineralized zone, 1,400 ft. south of the historic BC shaft.

Hole 3, drilled at an angle of minus-45, cut 20 ft. averaging 0.18 oz. gold per ton. This was followed by a 24.5-ft. interval of 0.27 oz. gold starting at a down-hole depth of 125 ft.

Hole 4 undercut hole 3 and intersected 28 ft. averaging 0.3 oz. gold starting at 142 ft. down-hole.

Holes 6 and 7, drilled about 400 ft. northwest of hole 3, did not intersect the footwall zone and were completed before the gold mineralization in holes 3 and 4 was identified.

Holes 8 and 9 were collared 200 metres northwest of hole 3 from the same pad. Hole 8, drilled at minus-45, cut 15.5 ft. of 0.16 oz. gold starting at a down-hole depth of 94.5 ft. This was followed by an 18.7-ft. interval of 0.42 oz. gold. Assays for hole 9, which undercut hole 8, are still pending.

Holes 10 and 11 were drilled about 100 ft. northwest of hole 3 from the same pad. Hole 10, drilled at minus-45, hit 84.7 ft. averaging 0.719 oz. gold starting at 157.9 ft down-hole. This included a 44.5 ft. of 1.25 oz. gold. Hole 11 undercut hole 10 and cut 15.7 ft. of 0.135 oz. gold starting at 181.9 ft. down-hole.

Hole 12, collared 60 ft. northeast of hole 3, undercut both holes 3 and 4. Hole 12 intersected 57.7 ft. averaging 0.606 oz. gold starting at 199.3 ft. down-hole.

Hole 13, collared 200 ft. southeast of hole 3 and drilled at minus 45, intersected 109 ft. of 0.309 oz. gold starting at a down-hole depth of 245 ft. Included in this interval were two separate sections measuring 12 and 15 ft., which assayed 0.794 and 0.758 oz. gold, respectively.

Holes 14 and 15, also drilled about 200 metres southeast of hole 3, were being logged at presstime. Hole 16 was collared on the same section as holes 6 and 7, which were stopped short of the footwall zone. Wayside is currently drilling hole 17 from the same drill pad as hole 16, but at a steeper angle.

The new zone has been defined over a strike length of 600 ft. and remains open along strike and at depth. Wayside will continue drilling the new zone at 200-metre stepouts in an attempt to define the mineralization and geological constraints. A second, larger-diameter diamond drill rig was being mobilized to the site at presstime.

The company has engaged independent consultants to ensure that sampling is performed according to professional standards. Standard fire assay techniques are being performed on the core by Acme Analytical Labs of Vancouver, and check assays will be performed by ASL Chemex Labs, also of Vancouver.

Meanwhile, Wayside has entered into several other agreements to obtain land positions on strike with the new discovery. Most recently, the junior acquired the Tom claim group for 56,000 shares. The claims are immediately northwest of its Cariboo property. In addition, Wayside has optioned a 75% interest in the Promise group of claims from Gold City Industries (GC-V) in return for $50,000 in exploration expenditures, to be completed before 2002, and 25,000 shares. The Promise group is contiguous with the northwestern boundary of the Cariboo property.

In March, Wayside acquired an option for a 75% interest in the Proserpine and Myrtle properties, which Gold City holds under an option agreement with the Canadian exploration subsidiary of Denver-based Newmont Mining (NEM-N). In return for its interest, Wayside must complete $140,000 in cash payments and work commitments and issue 100,000 shares to Gold City. Proserpine and Myrtle are near the southeastern and eastern portions of the Cariboo property, respectively. In total, Wayside holds a land package that stretches for 22 km and is 7 km wide.

History

From 1933 to 1987 the Mosquito Creek, Cariboo Gold Quartz, Island Mountain and Aurum mines recovered 1.2 million oz. gold from 3.03 million tons of ore. Two types of ore were mined: quartz veins and narrow stockworks hosted in meta-quartzite and meta-pelite, grading 0.38 oz. gold per ton; and pyrite replacement ore, hosted in a matrix of carbonate, dolomite and silica, grading 0.63 oz. gold.

The Island Mountain and Cariboo Gold Quartz mines accounted for 97% of the lode-gold production. These mines are a few kilometres north of the area where International Wayside is now drilling.

When the Cariboo Gold Quartz mine closed in 1959, the potential for replacement ore south of Jack of Clubs Lake had not been fully evaluated. It is this area that has been the focus of Wayside’s most recent drill campaigns. The open-pit potential of the Gold Quartz mine was targeted in the early 1980s by Wharf Resources, and subsequently, from 1989 to 1991, by Pan Orvana Resources. Wharf completed a total of 23,000 ft. of percussion drilling and 4,000 ft. of diamond drilling. Pan Orvana performed numerous geophysical and geochemical surveys, surface trenching and geological mapping, and put down four drill holes totalling 1,155 ft.

Pan Orvana estimated a near-surface resource, in the Sanders zone, of 1.1 million tons grading 0.12 oz. gold per ton. The estimate, which is based on a cutoff grade of 0.032 oz. per ton, is equivalent to about 132,000 contained ounces.

Wayside optioned the Cariboo claims in 1994 from Mosquito Consolidated Gold Mines and staked an additional contiguous block of claims in an attempt to define an open-pit resource above the Rainbow, Sanders and Pinkerton zones. From these zones, Cariboo produced a total of 285,746 oz. gold from 710,608 tons of ore.

In total, Wayside has completed 40,502 ft. of drilling (238 holes) on the Cariboo property and has calculated a preliminary open-pit resource estimate above the Rainbow, Sanders and Pinkerton zones. The resource weighs in at 11 million tons grading 0.098 oz. gold per ton, uncut, or 1.09 million contained ounces.

Rec
ently, the junior submitted an application to British Columbia’s Environmental Assessment Office to develop a 3,000-ton-per-day open-pit operation.

International Wayside has $1.5 million in its treasury and about 44 million shares fully diluted.