BATHURST, New Brunswick The Bathurst mining camp, long noted for its base metal producers, is heating up as a potential gold play. At least two companiesSTRATABOUND MINERALS of Calgary and FIRST NARROWS RESOURCES of Vancouverhave high hopes for their properties near here.
Stratabound (www.stratabound.com) has optioned the Elmtree deposit and hopes to repeat its earlier success making new gold discoveries near Ramsay Brook and Simpson's Field. Drilling in one of the two known zones at Elmtree has returned intersections of 8.6 metres grading 7.40 g/t Au, 9.1 metres grading 7.67 g/t Au, 6.7 metres grading 5.31 g/t Au, 9.1 metres grading 4.86 g/t Au, and 3.7 metres grading 2.64 g/t Au. One surface grab sample assayed 17.1 g/t Au and 524.6 g/t Ag.
"To our knowledge Elmtree is one of the best examples of a thick, low-grade gold system that has remained in relative obscurity, even during the surge in gold exploration of the early and mid-1990s. At today's bullion prices it is an ideal exploration target," says Stratabound in a press release.
At its Middle River property, First Narrows (www.uno.ca) has drilled a 17.6-metre-thick gold zone grading 3.41 g/t Au. The intersection included 4.7 metres at 7.49 g/t Au. Another hole on the property intersected a 9.95-metre thick zone grading 2.35 g/t Au, including 5.42 g/t Au over 2.7 metres. The work is being conducted as part of an option agreement to earn a 100% interest in the property from a private vendor.
Drilling at Middle River has confirmed a "significant potentially economic gold zone," says First Narrows. "This is further supported by widespread associated alteration and gangue mineralization (chrome-mica, stibnite, quartz, calcite, siderite, arsenopyrite)."
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