Noranda, Goldcap to select new operator at TAS project

Results from an exploration program conducted last year on the TAS gold-copper project in British Columbia were released recently.

At year-end, operator Black Swan Gold Mines (VSE) had identified five gold-rich porphyry copper zones and soil geochemical anomalies in two large areas outside the main drilling region.

But before the next exploration phase can begin, Black Swan affiliate Goldcap (ASE) will assume responsibility for operating the project.

Vancouver-based Black Swan holds a 10% direct interest in the TAS project and 40% of Goldcap, which in turn has a 45% working interest in TAS. The other joint venture partners include Noranda Exploration, a unit of Noranda (TSE), with 40%, and Tyler Resources (TSE) with 5%. Goldcap has the option to acquire Tyler’s 5% interest.

“Once everyone has had a chance to review the data, the committee will nail down a budget and set the new program,” said Goldcap President Robin Day. “We will proceed on that basis.”

The TAS project, in logging country about 40 miles north of Fort St. James, is predicated on the Quesnel Trough, a geological system which has given rise to Continental Gold’s 200,000-million-ton (grading 0.3% copper and 0.02 oz. gold per ton) Mt. Milligan discovery, 10 miles further southwest.

Almost all of the 14,000 ft. of drilling completed on the TAS project so far has centred on a 2,000×6,500-ft. area known as the Ridge grid. Drilling to a depth of 130 ft. has identified five sulphide zones (East, West, Mid, 21 and 19) containing porphyry-style copper- gold mineralization.

Goldcap says detailed channel sampling in the East zone trench defined a weighted average grade of 0.28 oz. gold across 9.9 ft. for a strike length of 207 ft.

About 440 ft. of strike length have been inferred along the East zone, of which 311 ft. have been defined by drilling to a depth of 130 ft. and 207 ft. by trenching, the company said.

The next phase of exploration may include a reserve calculation and a preliminary metallurgical study of material extracted from the property. A visual inspection of core and channel samples suggests that the material conta ins free gold, Day told The Northern Miner.

When exploration resumes, the joint venture may also attempt to identify additional copper-gold porphyry systems like the Mt. Milligan discovery and increase reserves in Ridge grid area. Black Swan director Rick Summerville said the company has made its own in-house calculations for the Ridge grid, but those figures are not expected to be released to the public in the near future.

Highlights from channel sample assays on the East zone include 20.7 ft. of grade 0.28 oz. and 14.1 ft. of grade 0.46 oz. Drill core assays included 17.4 ft. of 0.28 oz. gold and 0.16% copper.