Pacific Bay Minerals’ (TSXV: PBM) leadership is optimistic following the review of historical exploration data at its 100%-owned Wheaton Creek gold property located south of the Turnagain River in northern British Columbia.
In a press release, the Vancouver-based miner’s president and CEO, David H. Brett, said that the review yielded a number of significant and encouraging findings, including a 1986 drill hole that cut 4.9 gpt gold over 3.05 metres.
The review shows that the best gold values in the drilling to date have been associated with highly silicified, quartz calcite breccias containing moderate to strong sulphide content
“Additional drilling is warranted over a 1.5-kilometre zone prospective for both high grade and low-grade bulk tonnage gold mineralization,” Brett said and added that his team will design an exploration campaign for 2020.
Wheaton Creek comprises 2,850 hectares of mineral claims underlying the Boulder Gold Placer operation.
According to Pacific Bay, BC’s largest existing gold nugget, the 52-troy-ounce Alice Shea nugget, was found in 1937 less than 2 kilometres upstream of the property, along the Wheaton Creek drainage.
“Based on analysis of the gold grains found in the mined placer gold, previous geologists working on the property have concluded that the source of the gold is originating in the underlying bedrock within the Wheaton Creek drainage system,” the company’s press brief states. “To date, the source of the local placer gold has yet to be discovered. The gold mineralization is thought to be related to a transitional epithermal gold system.”