Motherlode - July 1, 2012 - Chamber of Mines of Eastern BC

July 2012
Page 1 of 12
THE PRESIDENT’S REPORT
The Chamber had a busy month participating in two events as well as the summer tourists that drop in and have a look at
our mineral collection.
Thanks to Jack Denny for manning our booth at the Salmo and District
Chamber of Commerce Show and Tell Business Faire
Thank you to Dave & Laura McMichael, George Addie, Robert Denny, John
Murray and Bob Bourdon manned shifts at the two day Castlegar Rock and
Gem show as well as to the Kokanee Rock Club for inviting us to their
event. Also thanks to AMEBC for their Outreach support.
At the Chamber itself, we have had many visitors and many people have commented on our flowers, thanks to Dave
&Laura McMichael and Jane.
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The people in the business know we are in an unusual time, if you are a producer, most metals are still fairly high in price
and producers are making money. Juniors without production are having a difficult time raising risk capital.
Most of us have lived through times like this and the Junior market will comeback, just not sure when. The government
went ahead with their fee increases for Mineral and Placer cells and that is making people think twice about acquiring
cells. The cost rise is a double edge sword, people are dropping claims due to the cost, on the other hand one of our new
prospectors from our Chamber Prospecting course said to me, he will finally have a chance to get some ground.
Road deactivation. It is a complicated subject. Below is a list of this year’s proposals, most roads will still be useable
but some will have bridges taken out. The way it presently works is a notice is posted on the road two months before
work is done and if nobody says anything, it gets deactivated. At the end of the list is the contact info for Ken Haynes.
Contact him if you have questions about road deactivation.
We have a list of proposed deactivation that may or may not proceed this year, depending on funding, referral responses
and/or capacity. This list is primarily for the Kootenay Lake TSA, there are other roads being deactivated in the
surrounding TSA’s.
Poplar Creek- 0.0-12.2 Bridge
Westfall River-11.9-20.2 plus 5 spurs totalling 14.36km’s
Cascade Face-0.0-3.76
Dodge Spur-0.0-1.23
Kidd Creek South-1.75-3.22
Crawford Plaid Lake-6.6-6.9 pull out logs
Crawford Main-5.24-8.66
Crawford Rose-0.0-6.24
Healy Creek-0.0-5.622
Sanca East Fork-3.69-6.28
Rover Midslope-9.315-10.325
Kootenay Joe-0.0-7.39
Maryland Br07-0.73-1.14
Maryland main-31.88-34.27 close
Maryland Monk-11.14-11.73
Akokli Creek-7.826-14.763 pull bridge
Goatfel Hazel Creek-8.76-9.61 bridge may be pulled
Arrow Mountain-8.9-10.1
Tungsten-0.0-8.4
Proposed deactivation for Castlegar/Arrow Lakes is Primarily Wilson Creek Branches 03 (Bremner) and 05 (North) and
roads in the Lemon Creek Drainage. There is also a plan to deactivate most of the roads upstream of the CMH lodge up
the Lardeau River near Ferguson due to Mountain Caribou.
In the Grand Forks area there is upwards to about 200km of road subject to deactivation due to a program called
Takeback- where the ministry assumed licensee area for our BC Timber Sales Program that may be deactivated because
there is no/minimal logging opportunity left.
Ken Haynes RFT
phone: (250) 825-1126 fax (250) 825-9657
Engineering Officer
Kootenay Lake Forest District
1907 Ridgewood Road, Nelson B.C. V1L 6K1
Mailto:[email protected]
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SULTAN MINERALS PROVIDES RESOURCE UPDATE ON THE KENA PROJECT
June 27, 2012, Vancouver, BC - Sultan Minerals Inc. (SUL -- TSX Venture) ("Sultan") is pleased to announce that its
partner Altair Ventures Inc. ("Altair") has updated and confirmed a measured and indicated resource of 549,000
contained ounces of gold and an inferred resource of 513,000 contained ounces of gold on the Kena Property,
British Columbia.
The NI 43-101 compliant Mineral Resource Estimate was prepared by Gary Giroux, P.Eng, MASc. and Perry Grunenberg,
P.Geo, both of whom are independent of Sultan and Altair. The updated resource incorporates drill holes completed since
the previous resource estimate (Giroux and Dandy, 2004) and is based mostly on drilling completed to date on the Gold
Mountain and the Kena Gold Zone. The updated resource estimate shows a measured plus indicated resource of 25.53
million tonnes averaging 0.67 g/t Au and an additional inferred resource of 25.91 million tonnes averaging 0.61 g/t Au,
using a 0.30g/t Au cutoff. The mineralization remains open along strike and at depth. The two zones are situated near the
northern 3.0 km end of an 18.0 km long district-scale gold-copper system and are amenable to bulk tonnage surface
mining methods. The 7,609 hectare Kena Property is located between the towns of Nelson and Ymir in southeastern
British Columbia and is readily accessible by highway and secondary logging roads. There is excellent infrastructure and
a qualified workforce nearby.
Drilling and Exploration is scheduled to commence in early July. (Please see Altair's News Release June 25, 2012).
Altair can acquire up to a 60% interest in the Kena property from Sultan by completing $7.5 million in project related
exploration expenditures over four years, and up to 75% interest by completing a feasibility study and funding the project
development expenditures up to the achievement of commercial production.
Sultan currently retains approximately 550 hectares of claims and crown granted mineral claims adjacent to the northwest
corner of the Kena Project. The retained property includes the recently acquired Daylight property, the Sand property and
several adjacent historic gold mines. For further information on Sultan's projects, visit www.sultanminerals.com.
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July 2012
Page 4 of 12
KLONDIKE SILVER CORP.'S SILVANA MINE: EXPLORATION AND BULK
TESTING
Klondike Silver Corp. is providing an update on exploration and bulk-testing activities at its Silvana mine located at the
historical mining town of Sandon in southeast British Columbia. The company's 100-per-cent-owned 120-ton-per-day mill
has been operating 10-hour shifts for seven days a week resulting in the processing of approximately 40 tons of material
per day.
Exploration at the 4,625 level and the 4,755 level has continued the search for large orebodies that would allow the mill to
work at full capacity. The company plans to focus on the continuation of the westward drift on the 4,625 level to test the
western extension of the main lode. As previously reported (see Oct. 13, 2010, news release), exploration at the 4,625
level of the Silvana mine confirmed the continuation of the main lode structure west toward the Mammoth and Standard
mines, all part of the east/west trend of the largest producers in the Slocan mining camp.
Klondike Silver has steadily acquired key ground over the past 25 years to become the largest landholder in one of
Canada's larger silver camps. Management believes there is considerable mineralization yet to be discovered and has
developed a strategy of minimizing dilution of outstanding shares by generating operating revenues while it continues
exploration. more at www.stockwatch.com KS
MINERALS SOUTH 2012 CONFERENCE & TRADE SHOW
NOVEMBER 6TH TO 9TH, 2012
Prestige Lakeside Resort and Convention Centre, Nelson, BC
NOVEMBER 6
NOVEMBER 7 – 8
NOVEMBER 9
SHORT COURSE
CONFERENCE AND TRADE SHOW
FIELD TRIPS
For further information visit our website: www.cmebc.com or phone 250-352-5242
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July 2012
Page 5 of 12
New Gold Announces Start of Production at New Afton Mine in British Columbia
(All figures are in US dollars unless otherwise indicated)
June 29, 2012 – New Gold Inc. (“New Gold”) (TSX and NYSE MKT:NGD) today announces that production at its New
Afton Mine has started with the first ore having been processed through the mill circuit on June 28, 2012. New Gold is
pleased that the June production start met the company’s originally stated timeline and the commissioning of the mill
circuit has been consistent with its expectations. Since the first ore was placed in the mill circuit, the mill has been running
on a continuous basis with progressively more ore being added to the circuit. The company anticipates that over the
course of the coming weeks, the daily milling rate will continue to increase. New Gold’s target for commercial production
at New Afton, defined as 30 days of operation at 60% of capacity, or 6,600 tonnes per day, remains August 2012.
In addition to the recent mill production start, New Afton’s underground mining operations, which began in the fourth
quarter of 2011, continue to perform well. The daily mining rate and the growth in the surface ore stockpile are all tracking
at or ahead of targeted levels.
New Afton Highlights – Through June 28, 2012
First ore processed through the mill circuit on June 28, 2012
28 drawbells completed project-to-date already ahead of target of 26 drawbells by end of June
Average mining rate over last 30 days in excess of 5,250 tonnes per day, or 47% of the nameplate 11,000 tonne per day
capacity
o Mining rate on schedule to reach 11,000 tonnes per day in early 2013
Surface ore stockpile of one million tonnes which equates to approximately three months of production at full 11,000
tonne per day capacity
o Average stockpile grade of 0.88 grams per tonne gold and 0.94% copper
“After a tremendous amount of hard work on the part of the entire team at New Afton, we are very excited that production
has now started. We are proud to be in a position to deliver this project on schedule, and to see it become the fourth
operating mine in our portfolio,” stated Robert Gallagher, President and Chief Executive Officer. “New Afton is an
important part of the history of our company and we look forward to this mine becoming our most significant cash flow
generator.”
New Afton’s total development cost remains approximately C$765 million. The total development cost is net of revenue
from gold and copper sales between the start of production and the commencement of commercial production in August.
For more information see: www.newgold.com
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July 2012
Page 6 of 12
Commerce Resources Corp. (TSXv: CCE) (FSE: D7H) (OTCQX: CMRZF) is
pleased to announce the completion of a National Instrument NI 43-101 compliant Mineral
Resource update that incorporates drilling results to the end of 2010 for the Upper Fir
Tantalum-Niobium Deposit at Blue River, B.C. A technical report prepared by independent
consultants, AMEC Americas Limited ("AMEC") supports the findings of the Mineral Resource update and also includes
summaries from the Blue River Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA") study completed with an effective date of 29
September, 2011 (2011 PEA- see Commerce news release dated 3-November-2011). The results from the 2011 PEA
mining studies have not changed in terms of their outcomes as their underlying assumptions remain reasonable.
Highlights:

Study results show Indicated Mineral Resources totalling 51.8 million tonnes at 192 ppm Ta2O5 and 1,490 ppm
Nb2O5 and Inferred Mineral Resources totalling 8.8 million tonnes at 186 ppm Ta2O5 and 1,660 ppm Nb2O5.

This represents a 42% increase in the tonnage of Indicated Resources and a 37% increase in the tonnage of
Inferred tonnes over the figures in the 2011 PEA.

Contained kilograms of tantalum increased by 40% in Indicated resources and by 23% in Inferred resources,
while contained kilograms of niobium increased by 25% in Indicated resources and by 21% in Inferred resources.
Over 86% of the tantalum and 84% of the niobium reside in the Indicated resource category.

The increased tonnage is mostly due to lowering the bulk mining method block unit value cut-off from US$52/t to
US$40/t by eliminating backfill costs and, to a lesser extent, additional infill diamond drilling..

AMEC’s “Blue River Tantalum-Niobium Project, British Columbia, Canada, NI 43-101 Technical Report on Mineral
Resource Update”, with an effective date 22 June, 2012 will be filed shortly for public disclosure
(www.SEDAR.com) on the date of this news release.

With the significant milestone of this resource update successfully achieved, Commerce and AMEC will continue
their work on an update of this new mineral resource estimate to incorporate 34 additional drill holes (totalling
8,715 m) of infill drilling in 2011, as well as the results of ongoing 2012 work.
For more information see: www.commerceresources.com
August 11 - 12, 2012 - Canadian National Gold Panning Championship celebrating the 150th Anniversary of the
Cariboo Gold Rush at Barkerville BC Sponsored by the Eldorado Gift Shop and Barkerville Historic Town.
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Jun 21, 2012
Barkerville Gold Mines Receives Environmental Approval at QR Mine for Bonanza Ledge Ore
Vancouver, BC - Barkerville Gold Mines Ltd. (TSXV: BGM) (the "Company" or "Barkerville Gold") reports it has now
received all necessary approvals to begin preparations for mining and milling operations at the Bonanza Ledge Mine and
QR Mill.
The Company's intention, with its Bonanza Ledge application in 2010, was to keep the QR Mine near Quesnel, B.C. in
operation by utilizing ore reserves from that property and the proposed Bonanza Ledge Mine, near Wells, B.C. On
December 5, 2011, the Company received final issuance of Mines Act Permit M-238 to develop the Bonanza Ledge open
pit gold mine and since that time has been awaiting environmental approvals to mill the ore at QR Mill facility.
On June 12, 2012 the Company received Amended Permit 12601 issued under the provisions of the Environmental
Management Act allowing for the dewatering of the Main Zone Pit to accommodate tailings from processing Bonanza
Ledge ore and ore from the Dome Mountain Mine near Smithers, B.C., which the Company may process using the QR
Mill as a toll mill.
On June 14, 2012, the Company received its draft permit amendment to Mines Act Permit M-198 to allow the custom
milling of up to 300,000 tonnes of ore from the Bonanza Ledge Mine and up to 300,000 tonnes of ore from the Dome
Mountain Mine, as well as the disposal of associated mine tailings in the QR Main Zone Pit. On May 1, 2012, the
Company was issued an approval in draft form of an amendment to Bonanza Ledge Environmental Management Act
permit PE 17876 to permit effluent discharge associated with active mining. Finalization of these last two permits is
anticipated to take several weeks, but will not hold up preparations for mining and production at Bonanza Ledge. The
Company anticipates shortly that it will commence the dewatering of the Main Zone pit to accommodate the start- up of
mining at the Bonanza Ledge. For more information see: www.barkervillegold.com
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Page 8 of 12
HELLIX VENTURES INC. (HEL:TSX.V / HLLXF:OTC)
-Vancouver, BC
Frank Underhill, President, announces updates on its two gold projects – the Athabasca near Nelson, British Columbia,
Canada, and the Margarita in southern Arizona, USA.
ATHABASCA
Hellix has just completed its second soil sampling survey on the Athabasca property. This program utilized shorter spaced
lines to follow-up on higher grade gold results received from previously unknown zones tested last season. Samples have
been sent to an accredited Canadian laboratory for assay.
The Company has received final approval from the Ministry of Energy and Mines on its drill permit application. The drill
program will commence following the coordination of all field personnel. more at
http://www.hellixventures.com/news/2012_Jul_10.html
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Page 9 of 12
The Chamber regrets the passing of Bill Barlee. Many of our members knew Bill and we enjoyed his stories. Bill taught
me some placer tips and we use his books in the Chamber to this day. There has been a resurgence in public interest in
Gold panning and when people come into the Chamber I always show them The Guide To Gold Panning In British
Columbia by N.L. Barlee. The Globe and Mail has an interesting article about Bill Barlee at this link:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/barlee-was-the-real-treasure-of-bcs-gold-trails-and-ghosttowns/article4387729/
The TSX Venture Exchange has accepted for filing an option agreement dated June 8, 2012, between Noram Ventures
Inc. and Bruce Doyle, whereby the company has the right to acquire a 100-per-cent interest in certain mineral claims
located near Crawford Bay, B.C.
Total consideration consists of one million common shares of the company, $100,000 in cash payments and the
requirement to incur $200,000 in exploration expenditures.
The claims are subject to certain net smelter return royalties.
For further information, refer to the company's news releases dated June 11, 2012. For more information see:
www.stockwatch.com NRM
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Vancouver, British Columbia, July 9, 2012 (TSX-V: BCG and PINK SHEETS: BCGOF) – BCGold Corp. (or the
“Company”) is pleased to announce that exploration and mining crews have mobilized to the Engineer Mine property to
commence the 2012 exploration and development program. The fully funded $550,000 program will consist of the
following:
dewatering 6 and 7 Level of the underground mine workings to access the down-plunge extension of the 505-3 and
505-5 gold shoots within the Engineer Vein
surveying, geological mapping and detailed panel sampling of the 6 and 7 Level underground workings
soil sampling orientation surveys along a 3-km strike length of Shear Zone “A” and Shear Zone “B”
2
geological mapping, prospecting and soil sampling over the 16 km Engineer Mountain volcanic complex
commencement of a University of British Columbia research project investigating depositional controls and the source
of high-grade gold mineralization at Engineer Mine (see UBC Research Project below)
continued evaluation of financing options to fund mine and mill infrastructure upgrades required to optimize gold
recovery during bulk sampling
UBC Research Project
The Department of Earth and Ocean Sciences (EOS) at the University of British Columbia (UBC) has commenced a oneyear post-doctoral research project studying gold mineralization at the Engineer Mine. The main objective of the project is
to develop a geological model to better understand the depositional controls and the source of the high-grade gold
mineralization. Secondary objectives include investigating commonalities to other Au-V-Te deposits, such as the Cripple
Creek Mine (USA), Porgera Gold Mine (Papua New Guinea), and the Emperor Gold Mine (Fiji); determining the link
between gold in the low-grade shear zones and the high-grade veins; and “fingerprinting” the gold-using trace element
signatures to establish comparisons between Engineer Mine's bedrock gold and the placer gold in the Atlin Gold Camp.
BCGold Corp. management is excited to be involved in this research project and believes the results will improve the
Company's ability to drill target higher-grade, bulk tonnage gold mineralization within the shear zones. The project will be
led by Dr. Leo J. Millonig, a post-doctoral research fellow with EOS, and Professor Lee A. Groat (EOS) and Professor
Robert Linnen (University of Western Ontario) will provide academic and laboratory support. BCGold Corp. has committed
up to $47,000 toward this project and along with UBC has applied for industry matching funding through the MitacsAccelerate research internship program.
Darren O'Brien, P.Geo., Vice President Exploration for BCGold Corp. and a Qualified Person as defined by National
Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved the technical contents of this news release. For full news release see:
www.bcgoldcorp.com
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July 2012
Page 11 of 12
ROCA ANNOUNCES STRATEGIC REVIEW
Roca Mines Inc. has been active in seeking potential investment to the company through several financing opportunities
while concurrently managing its assets in the face of difficult market conditions.
Global uncertainty and a general weakening of support in the resource sector and in particular molybdenum investments
have brought the company to a point where new financial initiatives must be undertaken. Roca and its wholly owned
subsidiary, FortyTwo Metals Inc., has recently engaged a financial adviser to assist in evaluating a broader range of
opportunities available to it, including structured debt, asset and tax pool sales, joint ventures, and other arrangements.
The primary intent of this engagement is to preserve value for the company's shareholders and all stakeholders, including
its trade-related creditors. The company's board and management, together with Roca's financial adviser, are evaluating
strategic alternatives for the company's business and will provide further updates when appropriate. For more information
see: www.rocamines.com
Vancouver, July 12, 2012 -- First Point Minerals Corp. (FPX-TSX.V) ("First Point" or the "Company") is pleased to report
that an approximately 15,000-metre drilling program is currently underway at the Decar nickel alloy project in central
British Columbia. The Decar project is currently in the Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA") phase, and is managed
and operated by Cliffs Natural Resources Exploration Canada Inc., an affiliate of Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. (NYSE:
CLF) (Paris: CLF) ("Cliffs").
Camp mobilization to Decar started on June 18th. The first rig arrived June 25th and started drilling June 26th. The
second rig mobilized to site on June 27th and collared June 28th. The third drill rig arrived June 30th and began turning
soon after.
Decar is a greenfield discovery of nickel mineralization in the form of a naturally occurring nickel-iron alloy called awaruite.
It represents a promising target for bulk-tonnage, open-pit mining. This deposit contains little or no sulphides, meaning it
has little or no capacity to generate acid mine drainage. Initial metallurgical test work demonstrates the nickel-iron alloy is
recoverable using conventional two-stage grinding and magnetic separation, and does not require chemical processing
thereby significantly reducing environmental issues.
As reported in First Point's April 16, 2012 news release, the Baptiste zone at Decar is estimated to contain an inferred 1.3
billion tonnes of Davis Tube magnetically-recoverable nickel grading 0.113%, equivalent to almost 3 billion pounds nickel
based on a 0.06% cut-off grade. The geological model is 2.3 kilometres long, 350 to 600 metres wide and extends up to
350 metres vertically. The Baptiste deposit is cut-off by a fault in the southwest, but remains open in all other directions,
including along strike in both the east and west directions, and at depth over the entire system.
The recommended 2012 drill program will attempt to extend the limits of higher grade zones by stepping out in the southcentral and northwest areas, while additional step-out holes are also planned along the northern boundary of the deposit
to better define areas of higher grade mineralization and to outline the limits of the deposit.
During the 2011 exploration program at Decar, a 250-tonne bulk sample of mineralized host rock was collected from the
surface of the Baptiste deposit. This bulk sample is being used for further metallurgical test work.
Environmental baseline studies, which commenced in May 2011, continue to assess surface and ground water quality,
archeological significance, vegetation, fish and wildlife habitats.
Dr. Ron Britten, P. Eng., First Point's Qualified Person under NI 43-101, has reviewed and approved the technical content
of this news release. For more information see: www.firstpointminerals.com
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July 2012
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215 HALL STREET NELSON, BC V1L 5X4
PHONE (250) 352-5242
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THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT ----- Chamber of Mines of Eastern BC
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