Gold Channel Placer Mine,
Prince George, BC, Canada
Property Details
The property consists of two placer claims, Gold Channel, No. 377281 (435,700 sq. metres) and Gold Channel Extension, No. 577771 (135,600 sq. metres) Gold Channel, the principal claim, is in good standing until May of 2018. It is located in the Cariboo Mining Division and extends along the right bank of the Willow River for approximately 1,000 metres and it is 500 metres wide.
Location, Access and Terrain
The property is located on map NTS 093 G 09 W and E, at Latitude 520 23 N' Longitude 1210 25' W. See maps # 1 and # 2 for access and local details.
Near Prince George, BC, the property is 26 km east of Highway 97, along the Willow Cale forestry road. The turn off on Highway 97 is 10.6 km south of Prince George city limits, as measured along the highway. The claims are held in trust by J. D. Graham for the owner, J. D. Graham & Associates Ltd..
The terrain in the area of the claims is predominately a flat level alluvial bench which is lightly timbered. This is termed the main or upper bench, in relation to a small lower bench along the river. Test Pits #1, 2, 3, and 5 were dug on the lower bench, along the toe of the upper bench. Pit #4 was dug near the junction of lower and upper benches.
Air photos indicate that there may be a buried cut off channel of the Willow River on the south east end of the property. The wide level upper alluvial bench located on the property presents ample working room for a large scale placer operation. Elevation at the centre of the property is 820 metres above sea level. Working season is generally from April through October.
Map #1, Access to Property (under construction, map can be sent as an e-mail attachment, on request)
Map #2, Placer Claims 377281 & 577771(under construction, map can be sent as an e-mail attachment, on request)
History
First mention of gold in this section of the Willow River was in the 1930’s. Although the Minister of Mines Annual Report for 1935 describes production plans which involved walking a power shovel into the property, there is no record of subsequent commercial production.
Graham has held the key portion of the property for 25 years. His sporadic work was confined to panning and minor sluicing along the river bank which proved the existence of gold along a 125 metre section of the river bank. Some of this gold is shown in photo #1. Note the rough texture of the grains. The gold is often course, with small nuggets weighing up to 0.3 grams. The upper nugget in photo #2 was found in 2007 and the lower nugget was found in the river bank some years ago.
Photo # 1 showing 7.9 grams of gold. Scale shows 4 cm. Photo #2 showing nuggets
Testing prior to 2007
Testing prior to 2007 consisted of panning and hand sluicing intermittently over 25 years. Early panning discovered course gold along the toe of a 2 to 3 high river bank in course gravel, in the area adjacent to Pit #4.
2007 Test Work
The claim was tested over the course of two weeks in August 2007. Initial testing was done by panning along the bank. Subsequent testing was by pan and a hand fed “high banker” (a small hand fed sluice). Samples processed in this second phase were taken from gravel dug from pits with a small excavator.
The river bank adjacent to Pit # 1 (See Map # 3) is approximately 1 to 2 metres high. In this area approximately 1 metre of silt overlies a blue clay layer. The blue clay is near the river level and overlies a bedrock of black shale. This black shale, containing pyrite, is probably decomposed to form the blue clay. Immediately above the clay and below the silt is a 20 to 30 cm band of gravel. Gold was panned from this gravel. This section is on the lower bench.
The excavator dug 6 shallow test pits located at least 10 metres back form the Willow river high water mark, in accordance with regulations. See Map # 3 for the location of these test pits. None of the pits reached bed rock although some shale float, probably from bedrock, was encountered in two pits. Five pits were dug at the toe of the upper bench that underlies much of the claim on the right (NE) bank of the river. This bench covers approximately 60,000 square metres and is lightly forested with pine. Pit #6 was dug in the higher, main bench at a point 27 metres from the high water mark. See Map #3.
Map #3, Location of Test Pits (under construction, map can be sent as an e-mail attachment, on request)
Gold recovery was 2.3 grams from an estimated 1.5 cubic metres processed by panning and by the “high banker”. See Photo #1 for the nature of the gold. The lower 0.3 gram nugget, shown in Photo #2, included in this total weight, was found in Pit #4. Both of these nuggets where recovered from the coarser gavels found east of the line noted in Map #3. (See photos in the "Gold Channel Photos" page.) At $900 per ounce, this recovery suggest gold values in the order of $60 per cubic metre. In addition to finer gold, and the nugget shown in Photo #2, "clinkers" (gold particles large enough to "clink" when dropped in a pan) were recovered from Pits #4 & #6. These clinkers are shown in Photo #3.
Photo #3
Potential of the Mine
The property holds the potential for a commercial placer operation. This assessment is based on the extent of gold found along the river bank and particularly in view of the test work done back from the river in August of 2007 (Pits #4 & #6). Nuggets weighing up to 0.3 grams have been found by limited hand processing. The nugget found in 2007 was from a pit over 10 metres back from the high water mark, demonstrating that gold is not confined to the river bank. Thus there is potential for gold through out the extensive upper bench. A profitable low cost mine will result if these values extend over this flat bench extending back from the river for several 100 metres.
If gold bearing gravels extend over the potential area outlined in Map # 2, the area would be roughly 60,000 square metres. At a depth of 4 metres the volume would be 240,000 cubic metres. If this volume ran $60 per cubic metre the contained value of gold would be just over $14 million.
Recommendations
The gold found to date strongly warrants testing this claim by a grid pattern of test holes. An excavator capable of digging to depths of 4 to 5 metres should be used. Ample water is available from the Willow river for washing. The entire volume of excavated material should be washed in a small portable plant and the recovered gold carefully measured. Calculations of contained values and operating cost would then determine the economics of operating this property.
In addition to expending the gold-bearing ground discovered to date, the grid of test pits should be located to test the theory of a buried channel south and east of the presently tested ground.
Option Terms
A two year option of the property (two placer claims at present) is proposed to permit grid testing of the bench. Initial payment $2,500 with a second payment 12 months from date of the agreement of $5,500. To exercise the option the sale price of $50,000 is to be paid 24 months from date of the option agreement. Royalty is to be paid from production equal to 10% of gold recovered. Additional placer and hard rock mineral claims staked, by Graham or the group taking the option, within 2 km of the property, are to be included in the terms of the property option.
Mining Regulations
This is a mining property. As such it is offered for sale for mining purposes only. The recommended testing program will require a routine Work Permit. Water use permits will be required but the volume of flow in the Willow River is adequate and discussions with provincial authorities indicate that issuance of a permit would probably be routine.