News Releases
29-May-2008
BCGold Corp. to Drill Shear Zone "A" Bulk" Tonnage Gold Target at Engineer Mine Property, British Columbia
May 29, 2008 - BCGold Corp. (“BCGold” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce that it intends to conduct a $1.2 million surface and underground exploration program on the historic Engineer Mine Property near Atlin, British Columbia. The staged work program, commencing mid-June 2008, will encompass an initial 1,700 metre phase of diamond drilling, and will target the near-surface Shear Zone “A” bulk-tonnage gold target (Figure 1). Phase I exploration will also include underground geological mapping and channel sampling and limited bulk sampling on Engineer Mine’s high-grade gold Shaft and Boulder veins. Proposed Phase II work will entail additional diamond drilling, dewatering of the bottom 3 levels of the mine, rehabilitation and additional mapping and sampling.
While the exploration potential for more high-grade gold and silver in veins at Engineer Mine Property is excellent (see BCGold press release dated February 27, 2008), BCGold will focus exploration efforts towards defining a larger bulk-tonnage gold deposit (2 - 5Mt @ 5 - 10 g/t Au) on Shear Zone “A”. This potential quantity is conceptual in nature. There has been insufficient exploration to define a mineral resource on Shear Zone “A” and it is uncertain that further exploration will result in this target being delineated as a mineral resource.
The basis for this potential quantity is predicated upon historical reference to a series of chip samples from Shear Zone “A” taken from a 45 metre crosscut on the 8th Level, the deepest mine level, that averaged 5.1 g/t Au. The sampling was conducted in the early 1930s and was never followed up. At that time the prevailing gold price was $21 per ounce and bulk tonnage mineralization of that gold grade was not economic to mine. In the present gold price climate however, such width and gold grade is suggestive of the presence of a potentially economic gold resource.
BCGold has an option to earn 100% interest in the Engineer Mine Property with no underlying royalties.
The Engineer Mine
The Engineer Mine Property is situated 32 kilometres west of Atlin, British Columbia,.and 140 kilometres south of Whitehorse, Yukon. The historic Engineer Mine was a high-grade gold producer that reached its zenith in the mid-1920s. More than 560 kilograms of gold were produced at a realized grade exceeding 39 g/t Au from high-grade epithermal quartz-carbonate veins on 5 mine levels. The presence of visible gold was the primary method of identifying and following ore shoots in the veins. All veins remain open at depth and no exploration has been conducted deeper than 200 metres below surface.
Gold Mineralization at the Engineer Mine Property
Two types of mineralization occur at the Engineer Mine Property: 1) low-grade gold, finely disseminated mineralization in shear zones and “hubs”; and 2) more erratically distributed pockets of high-grade gold occurring in numerous narrow quartz veins. Shear zone mineralization appears mesothermal in character and occurs primarily as disseminated pyrite in broad, foliated and silicified zones, thought to be Early Cretaceous in age. The high-grade veins are more epithermal in character and are believed to be related to a younger Tertiary intrusive event. Epithermal mineralization occurs as native gold, gold-bearing silver, roscoelite, allemontite, arsenopyrite, and pyrite occurring in quartz-calcite veins.
Geological Overview
The Engineer Mine Property is situated within the Whitehorse Trough, a synclinorium underlain by the Late Triassic Stuhini Group with a core dominated by Jurassic Laberge Group turbidites, greywackes and conglomerates. The Whitehorse Trough is bounded to the west by the Llewellyn fault, separating it from the Coast Plutonic Complex, and to the east by the Nahlin Fault, which separates it from Atlin terrane. Two nearly vertical dipping and northwest-trending zones of dilatant quartz veins (Shear zone “A” and “B”) cut the Engineer Mine Property and have been interpreted as splays off the Llewellyn Fault system. These shear zones have previously been compared to the California Motherlode belt and as such represent excellent bulk-tonnage gold exploration targets.
Mr. Al Doherty, P.Geo., a Qualified Person for the purposes of National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed the technical content of this news release.
About BCGold Corp.
BCGold Corp. (TSX-V: BCG) is a Vancouver-based junior resource company focused on copper and gold exploration in under-explored historic and emerging mining districts in British Columbia and Yukon. BCGold Corp. acquires and develops conceptual, early and mid-stage, exploration opportunities and advances them towards resource development by using internal expertise, engaging preferred joint venture partners, and creating strategic alliances with major exploration and mining companies. Currently, institutional investors hold 29% of the Company's outstanding shares and Kinross Gold Corporation holds 11%.On behalf of the Board of Directors,
Brian P. Fowler, P. Geo.
President & CEO
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Some statements in this news release contain forward-looking information. These statements include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to future expenditures and exploration, development and production activities. These statements address future events and conditions and, as such, involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the statements. Such factors include, among others, the timing of future payments, expenditures and unit issuances and the timing and success of future exploration, development and production activities.
For further information, please contact:Glen Phillips
Manager, Corporate Communications
Tel. (604) 646-1581
Fax (604) 642-2411
[email protected]