BC Geological Survey Assessment Report 35645
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ASSESSMENT REPORT Geological Survey On the MONTE CRISTO PLACER PROJECT New Westminster Mining Division Latitude: 49° 57’ 24’’ N; Longitude: 122° 25’ 38’’ W NTS 092G For NORTH BAY RESOURCES INC. PO Box 162 Skippack Pennsylvania 19474 USA By Dan V. Oancea PGeo October 3, 2015 2015 Assessment Report on the Monte Cristo Placer Project Page 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 Summary Page 3 2 Conclusions Page 4 3 Recommendations Page 4 4 Introduction Page 5 4.1 Location, Access and Physiography Page 5 4.2 Placer Claims Page 6 4.3 Climate, Local Resources, Infrastructure Page 8 4.4 History and Development Page 8 5 Geology and Mineralization Page 9 5.1 Regional Setting Page 9 5.2 Mineralization and Deposits Page 9 5.3 Property Geology and Mineralization Page 10 6 Prospecting Survey Page 12 7 Discussion and Conclusions Page 15 8 Recommended Work Page 18 9 Cost Statement Page 19 10 References Page 20 11 Statement of Qualifications Page 21 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1 - Index Map After Page 3 Figure 2 - Topography and Access Map After Page 5 Figure 3 - Placer Claims Map After Page 7 Figure 6 - Geology Map After Page 11 Figure 4 - Sampling Map (1) After Page 13 Figure 5 - Sampling Map (2) After Page 14 LIST OF TABLES Table 1 - Placer Titles Page 7 Table 2 - Sample Locations Page 22 PICTURES Plate 1 - Peninsula Formation Conglomerates Page 13 Plate 2 - Peninsula Formation Gravels Page 15 2015 Assessment Report on the Monte Cristo Placer Project Page 2 1. Summary The Monte Cristo gold-platinum placer project is located on the Lower Lillooet River some 12 km south of the Lillooet Lake in the New Westminster Mining Division of southwestern British Columbia, Canada. The property could be accessed by following Highway 99 from Vancouver to Pemberton and to the community of Mount Curie for about 160 km, then turning south on the in-SHUCK-ch Forest Service Road for another 60 km. The Monte Cristo property consists of 16 placer claims 100% owned by North Bay Resources Inc of Skippack, Pennsylvania, USA. It covers 332.59 ha that straddle the Lower Lilloet River. The river flows southeast from the Lillooet Lake towards the Harrison Lake. The placer property occupies part of the broad U-shaped glacial river valley which is flanked by moderately to steep terrain. The property is covered by NTS Map Sheet 092G. Rocks underlying the Monte Cristo placer property are represented by marine sedimentary and volcanic rocks of the Lower Cretaceous Gambier Group surrounded by other intrusive rocks of Mesozoic age. An important northwest trending thrust zone – the Fire Creek Fault - parallels the Lower Lillooet River. Geological constrains point to the Lillooet River being of Pliocene to Miocene age. The placer property is underlain by alluvium of minimum a Quaternary age. The alluvium was derived from reworking of the country rock's Cretaceous conglomerates, and of the Pleistocene glacial till material. The material might have also been possibly mixed with glacial outwash material. The Monte Cristo placer tenures occupy several well developed terraces of the Lower Lillooet River that are extending from 121 masl to above 150 masl. In 1858, the Lower Lillooet River was part of a portage trail between the Harrison and Lillooet Lakes, which was built by gold seekers that were looking for ways to access the Fraser River placers and later the Cariboo gold fields. Coarse gold was discovered along this route by miners travelling to the Cariboo. No known placer mining operation had been recorded on the river but several attempts were made in the 1970s and 1980s to economically produce gold and platinum from placer leases located north of the Harrison Lake. The precious metals were described as fine to micron size and enjoying a wide distribution in the alluvial deposits that occupy the wide Lower Lillooet River Valley. In 2012, North Bay Resources undertook a first pass prospecting and sampling survey of their Monte Cristo placer claims. Coarse gold was identified in many of the samples 2015 Assessment Report on the Monte Cristo Placer Project Page 3 Fig. 1: Monte Cristo Placer Project Index Map Legend 0 140 280 km. Scale: 1:8,000,000 Map center: 54°39' N, 124°32' W This map is a user generated static output from an Internet mapping site and is for general Notes: Dan V. Oancea PGeo for North Bay Resources Inc., July 2015 reference only. Data layers that appear on this map may or may not be accurate, current, or otherwise reliable. THIS MAP IS NOT TO BE USED FOR NAVIGATION. collected from an area located on the eastern bank of the river near the Skookumchuck Hot Springs - assay ran up to 5.70 g/t gold. The writer of the present report was engaged to assess the prospectivity of the claims and short field surveys were undertaken in April and November 2014. The present report documents a two day July 2015 assessment work. The easier to access, permit and mine part of the Monte Cristo placer property is located on the western side of the river therefore that part of the property was surveyed in 2014 but assays were not able to replicate the high grade gold and platinum assays reported back in the 1970s. The July 2015 fieldwork surveyed the eastern bank and tested for the presence of coarse gold. A few fine gold colors had been tentatively identified in Cretaceous conglomerates above the alluvial bench that hosts the Skookumchuck Hot Springs. No other visible gold was returned by sampling and panning at different locations but that does not preclude the existence of visible and/or micron gold in some of the eastern bank locations. 2. Conclusions The results of the prospecting surveys as well as literature search and the interpretation of available geological data indicate that while the Monte Cristo placer tenements have the potential to host precious metals in certain stratigraphic levels or fluvial terraces of the Lower Lillooet River, an economic accumulation of precious metals has yet to be found. Field results point to the fact that fine gold is not ubiquitous and has no uniform distribution throughout the thick pile of alluvial sediments of the Lower Lillooet River. Nevertheless the presence of coarse gold on one of the eastern terraces of the river as indicated by previous work on the claims - and mentioned in historic documents - indicate that possible economic accumulations of gold could exist with gold most likely derived from local sources. 3. Recommendations Further exploration work is warranted on the Monte Cristo placer property. It is recommended to undertake a more detailed geological and sampling survey that would clarify the Lower Lillooet River's alluvial stratigraphy and gold (and possible platinum) distribution as well as the gold balance and particle size distribution. The presence of fine or micron gold on the eastern bank (near Minfile occurrences) has yet to be proved and needs to be further researched. The presence and origin of coarse gold needs also to be further investigated. Whenever possible attention has to be directed towards sampling the bedrock alluvium interface. 2015 Assessment Report on the Monte Cristo Placer Project Page 4 Areas of interest would be delineated and bulk sampled or outright mined to provide funds for the possible development of the placer claims. The possibility of developing commercial gravel pits that would serve the needs of the region's road builders, which includes the British Columbia Ministry of Transportation, should also be taken into consideration. 4. Introduction 4.1 Location, Access and Physiography The Monte Cristo placer property is located on the Lower Lillooet River of the southern Cascade Mountains in the New Westminster Mining Division of southwestern British Columbia, Canada. It is covered by NTS Map Sheet 092G. The property could be accessed from Vancouver by travelling north on Highway 99 past Whistler and Pemberton and to the small community of Mount Curie over a distance of 164 km. From Mount Curie turn south on the in-SHUCK-ch Forest Service Road for another 60 km in order to reach the northern boundary of the Monte Cristo placer claims. To access the western side of the claims the road crosses the Little Lillooet Lake over the 156 m in length and 25 m mainspan Tenas Bridge which was built in 1999. The road is being used by local forestry companies. The Lower Lillooet River route known as the Douglas Road was a gold rush-era (1858) transportation route from the Coast to the Interior of British Columbia which was used to access the Fraser River and Cariboo gold fields. Mount Curie is an Indian Reserve (population 800) belonging to the Lil'wat people. It was originally named after John Curie a former California and Cariboo, B.C. gold miner. In 1885, Curie, the first non-indigenous settler of the area became a rancher (along with his Lillooet Indian wife). The Lillooet River ('nkukutsa' in native language) begins at the Lillooet Crown Icecap which is located 80 km northwest of Pemberton. The Upper Lillooet River valley is about 95 km in length and enters the Lillooet Lake 15 km from Pemberton near Mount Curie. The Lillooet Lake is about 25 km in length and covers an area of 33.5 sq km. Old First Nations stories tell of a huge water snake that inhabits the lake. The Lower Lillooet River flows out of the southern tip of the namesake lake over a 55 km distance until it joins the larger Harrison Lake. The Lower Lillooet River valley is bordered to the west by the Garibaldi Provincial Park.