REPORT FROM CALGARY Echo Bay may have a new mine

Good gold camps do not die — they just keep on living through the discovery of new mines. Such is the case of the Republic gold camp in northern Washington State, immediately south of Grand Forks, B.C.

Until recently, the Republic camp was dominated by the Hecla Mining Co.’s Knob Hill mine, in production since the early 1900s. In the early 1980s, a few companies commenced exploration at Republic, led by Houston Oil and Gas, which in turn sold its interests to Denver-based Crown Resources.

In 1985, Echo Bay Mines took an option on Crown’s (with partner Gold Texas) properties and today has one underground developing project at Kettle River, 16 miles north of Republic and eight miles south of the British Columbia border, and a second promising prospect at Cook Mountain (Key project), nine miles northeast of Republic.

On the Kettle River project, Echo Bay is sinking a 4,500-ft inclined ramp scheduled for completion late in 1988. Currently diamond drilling is taking place from underground stations to better define originally discovered veins from surface drilling. Drill-indicated reserves released in 1987 were placed at 200,000 tons grading 0.32 oz gold per ton, but since that time this tonnage and grade have been increased and improved.

The Key project is a surface exploration program covering similar geology and showings as at Kettle River. Scheduled for closure

Hecla’s Knob Hill mine was scheduled for closure two years ago. By a stroke of good luck at a time of last desperation, deep drilling in 1986, well below mined-out stopes around 1,000 ft, encountered a new orebody called the Golden Promise, totalling some 700,000 tons grading about 0.5 oz. This event placed new importance to the Republic camp, especially to those explorers expecting better things with depth.

Echo Bay’s Kettle River project that commenced with an inconspicuous small surface showing, blossomed into a multiple-veined gold zone in tertiary extrusive igneous tuffs and breccias not dissimilar to the Knob Hill mine. These epithermal veins are characterized by high silica (quartz), calcite, adularia and free gold with little or no sulphide (about 1% pyrite).

Echo Bay has identified several other parallel structures on the property that could represent additional gold-bearing zones. It would appear Echo Bay, with partners Crown Resources and Gold Texas, have a significant new discovery in the Republic camp that could yield some 500,000 oz of gold, or more if their current success continues.

Other companies active or about to become active in the area include U.S. Borax, Curlew Lake Mines, Kettle River Mines and Westmount Exploration.

With the Midas effect of Echo Bay which never seems to cease, the perseverence of Hecla and the expected successes of others, the Republic gold camp can look to many years of longevity.