Woodjam Projects
The 56,500-hectare Woodjam Property, 49% owned by Consolidated Woodjam Copper and 51% by Gold Fields is located 50 km east of Williams Lake in central British Columbia. The Property is accessible year round on moderate terrain by a series of logging roads.
Gold Fields Canada Exploration currently has two separate option agreements on the Property: Woodjam North (July 2009) and Woodjam South (May, 2010). Gold Fields may earn up to a 70% interest in both properties by expending approximately $35 million, as well as delivering a feasibility study for the Woodjam South Property.
Gold Fields completed expenditure totaling approximately $14.6 million on the two properties by February 2012 to earn its 51% interest. Gold Fields has given notice that it will exercise its right to earn a further 19% interest in each of the Woodjam North and Woodjam South properties. To earn this additional interest Gold Fields will be required to spend $12 million and US$8 million on the Woodjam North and Woodjam South properties respectively, over four years. In addition, Gold Fields is required to complete a comprehensive feasibility study on the Woodjam South property.
The project area is located within the prolific Quesnel Trough, a large regional depositional belt hosting both alkaline and calc-alkaline porphyry copper+/-gold+/-molybdenum deposits, extending for 2,000 km from the US border through central BC to the Stikine River.
To date, four zones of porphyry mineralization (Megabuck, Deerhorn, Takom and Southeast) have been identified by drilling (> 80,000 m in over 280 holes) in an area approximately 5 km in diameter. In addition, other targets exist including a new showing (Tisdall Lake), discovered in 2010, and drilled in 2011. The Southeast and Deerhorn Zones were discovered in late 2007 and late 2008, respectively.
The Megabuck and Deerhorn zones appear similar in style, with gold-copper mineralization being hosted by alkaline to sub-alkaline monzodioritic intrusive rocks and Nicola Group volcanic and volcaniclastic rocks. Mineralization at the Southeast Zone is calc-alkaline in character, hosted in quartz monzonitic phases of the Takomkane batholith. The age of mineralization for all zones appears to be tightly constrained at 197 to 198 Ma; slightly younger than at the nearby Mount Polley copper-gold mine (203-205 Ma).
During 2011, infill and expansion drilling of 42 holes totalling 17,200 m were completed on the Southeast Zone over a core area measuring 900 m by 800 m by 400 m. Almost all holes bottomed in mineralization; previously, the deepest mineralized hole drilled was > 700 m. To the end of 2011, all but one reconnaissance drill hole of the 78 holes completed have intersected mineralization from the bedrock surface to the bottoms of the holes. Hole WJ08-84 assayed 0.69% Cu, 0.27 g/t Au and 0.006% Mo over 359.1 m, including 1.01% Cu, 0.44 g/t Au and 0.002% Mo over 200.8 m. A 43-101 compliant inferred resource is anticipated by Q1, 2012.
Elsewhere during 2011, additional drilling was completed on the Deerhorn and Megabuck zones, as well as on the Megabuck East and Tisdall Lake targets. At Deerhorn, hole DH11-32 assayed 0.18% Cu and 1.0 g/t Au over 207.5 m, including 0.29% Cu and 1.9 g/t Au over 90 m. At Megabuck, hole WJ04-32 assayed 0.14% Cu and 1.03 g/t Au over 274.9 m. Previous drilling on the Takom Zone included hole TK10-12 which assayed 0.41% Cu and 0.82 g/t Au over 61.9 m.
The discovery and advancements at the Woodjam Property have precipitated several other regional exploration programs in the area; more discoveries are expected.
The three gold-copper mineralized zones on the Woodjam North Property are Megabuck, Deerhorn and Takom. Find out more here
Woodjam South contains the Southeast Zone, a porphyry copper-gold-molybdenum discovery with significant size potential. A NI43-101 compliant resource on the Southeast Zone resulted in 146.5 million tonnes at 0.33% copper for 1.06 billion pounds of copper. Find out more here.
To read the complete National Instrument 43-101 Technical Report for the Woodjam Copper Gold Project Cariboo Mining Division, British Columbia please click here.
