MINER DETAILS — Alleged salting still a mystery

When Dessir Resources reported spectacular results from the Gibbs gold property in California last year, they seemed too good to be true. Skepticism was so great that Dessir, at the request of the Vancouver Stock Exchange, retained a consultant to examine certain reject and core samples from the property, and attempt to confirm assay results obtained by Bondar-Clegg on the original samples.

The report revealed original core equivalent to 16 reject samples retrieved from Bondar-Clegg did not contain any gold. “The conclusion must be made that alluvial gold was added to the samples before assaying,” the report stated. “The preserved nature of the alluvial characteristics strongly suggests that the salting was done after the initial crushing.”

The latter comment was of concern to Bondar-Clegg as it felt some might presume the alleged salting could only have occurred in a lab, namely its lab. And we have to agree that while evidence exists to show that the samples were salted, any further inferences should be viewed as speculative. After all, drill core logs prepared last fall by the geologist who has been retained by operator AT&E Enterprises contain numerous and detailed references to visible gold.

More surprisingly, the samples referred to in the report were prepared by two Reno labs, both reporting substantial values. And it was AT&E that managed the transport of the raw core, coarse reject material or bulk pulp samples from one lab to the other.

Last fall, AT&E’s geologist said the change from Chemex to Bondar-Clegg was made because Chemex’s “inappropriate assay procedure” understated grade in certain holes, and because of Bondar-Clegg’s ability to handle the problem of large samples requiring full pulping in order to disperse the gold. This was news to Chemex, which says it totally pulverized all mineralized sections before sampling.

Both firms also believe natural gold (0.2-0.5 mm size) found in coarse reject material wouldn’t necessarily be deformed when put through a primary crusher that closes to only 635 mm. That means they don’t accept as conclusive the view that the salting must have been done after crushing.

How the samples were allegedly salted, or by whom, remains a mystery. An investigation is continuing, and both firms appear anxious to see the truth about these serious allegations emerge. So far, though, neither firm has been contacted by investigators.