Pacific Empire builds substantial land position in BC’s Babine district

Pacific Empire Minerals (TSXV: PEMC) has consolidated 90 sq. km of contiguous claims in central B.C.’s Babine copper-gold porphyry district into its Paragon copper-gold project after joining its Wasp property and newly optioned Nilkitkwa property with six claims of freshly staked ground.

Rock sample assays from a due diligence program at Nilkitkwa include 1.89% copper and 0.2% copper. The six claims total 6.3 sq. km and will cost the company $65,000 in cash and 500,000 shares in staged payments over four years. The vendors will retain a 2% net smelter return royalty that the company can halve for $1.5 million.

The company says it had always been interested in the area because of its potential for copper porphyry deposits with significant gold credits.

Then, late last year, that interest intensified.

“What happened in the fall of 2018 is that during the course of road building activities for logging operations, a local prospector was fortunate enough to discover new copper mineralization in the road cuts,” Pacific Empire president and CEO Brad Peters says in an interview with The Northern Miner.

“That was just to the south of our Wasp property, so our geologist went up and had a look, and he was certainly able to confirm the presence of strong quartz sericite-pyrite, and that we were looking at the right geology.”

A strongly altered roadcut outcrop at Nilkitkwa. Credit: Pacific Empire Minerals.

Shortly after, it optioned another 50 sq. km in the nearby Sat copper property. Sat sits within 15 km of the past-producing Bell and Granisle copper mines. Paragon covers four copper-gold prospects lying within 30 km of Bell and Granisle. Those mines were associated with biotite feldspar dikes, and as a result, Pacific Empire is targeting the same kind of geology with its exploration at Paragon.

Noranda Mines operated Bell from 1970 to 1992. It bought Granisle — 8 km southeast — in 1979, and combined the operations to form the Babine Division of Noranda.

Past operators have drilled more than 3,000 metres at Sat, taken 180 line km of induced-polarization surveys, collected more than 3,500 samples and performed ground and airborne geophysics. The option will also cost the company $65,000 and 500,000 shares over four years — but the property vendors only hold a 1% interest in Sat that the company can halve for $500,000.

The two projects join the company’s pre-existing Bulkley and Bull’s Eye copper-gold properties to raise Pacific Empire’s land holdings in the area to just over 170 square kilometres. The four projects form the company’s Bulkley initiative — its flagship project.

“We will be dedicating the majority of our exploration efforts in that area,” Peters says. “We’ll be advancing other projects as well, as we have a portfolio with a large number of projects, but that’s our focus, and certainly the area that we’re most excited about.”

The company will start vetting the targets in 2019 ahead of a potential reverse-circulation (RC) drill campaign. Part of the vetting process will include surveys with a passive seismometer, which the company began incorporating last year.

“It was really a game changer for us,” Peters says. “It helps us guide our drilling, allows us to avoid holes with excessive overburden. You don’t want to spend time in area where the overburden is too deep. It just wastes our time. We’ll be doing a number of seismic surveys to help best identify the drill targets that are suitable for our RC drill.”

The company has its own RC drill, which it says not only helps keep costs down, but gives it more freedom in terms of how it follows up on targets. The company can drill for $2,500 per day, and aims for $30 per metre, all-in.

“What separates us is that, generally speaking, prospect generators don’t drill,” Peters says. “We’re one that does. And we believe that by advancing our properties cost effectively through drilling, we have greater flexibility of options in terms of bringing a partner on, and it gives us flexibility, in terms of, if a project is not ready for a partner. We’re able to go drill the property and bring it to that level.”

Shares of Pacific Empire are trading at 5¢ in a 52-week range of 5¢ to 20¢. The company has a $2-million market capitalization and $500,000 in the treasury.

“This is an area that we’ve been looking at for some time, and it’s really only recently that this area has become opened up again,” Peters says. “We’re just fortunate to be able to get a significant land position in the area, and look forward to testing all of the projects on our targets there one day.”