Spanish Mountain Gold
Highlights
Freeport's Spanish Mountain Gold claims are located near Likely in the Cariboo -- the heart of British Columbia's historic "Gold Rush". Spanish Mountain has been proposed as the possible source of the gold mined from some of the most prolific placer operations in British Columbia. The Bullion Pit, just 12 km (7.5 mi) away, produced over 5.4 million grams of gold (173,600 oz). Other known placer workings in the area include the Cedar Creek and the McKeown Placers. With known gold showings since the early 1900's (Minfile 093A 043), the Spanish Mountain area is once again a highly active exploration camp.
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Location & Access
Freeport's claims (150 hectares, 371 acres) at Spanish Mountain are 8 km (5 mi) east of Likely by all-weather gravel road. The site has well developed infrastructure and is just 70 km (44 mi) northeast of Williams Lake, a major regional centre serviced by an airport and railway. Important deposits nearby include the Mt. Polley Mine (12 km SW; 7.5 mi) and the QR deposit (24 km WNW; 14.9 mi). The property has several small roads that will provide easy access for equipment and drills over the northern portion of the claims.Likely Chamber of Commerce
City of Williams Lake
Geology
The Spanish Mountain area comprises Upper Triassic sediments and volcanic rocks and is part of the Quesnel Terrane. Gold mineralization is hosted by deformed sedimentary rocks with interlayered volcanics, and described as of two types:1) High grade gold in quartz veins/stockworks, and;
2) Lower grade, bulk tonnage gold-bearing shale and siltstone.
Work by SMGL/Skygold has led to recent interpretation of Spanish Mountain as a Sediment Hosted Vein deposit (SHV). These deposits are often large in size, with stratigraphically controlled gold mineralization. Based on extensive geochemical and geophysical surveys followed by drilling, a large NW-SE trending mineralized zone -- the "Main Zone Argillite" -- measuring over 1.4 sq.km. (over 0.56 sq.mi.) in size has been delineated. It is open in all directions. Freeport's property is approximately 600 m. (.37 mi.) SE of SMGL/Skygold's mineralized zone.
The 2006 airborne survey shows structural continuity of low resistivity anomalies favourable for gold mineralization across the claim blocks. Freeport's recent sampling of one resistivity low confirms presence of anomalous gold in soil and rock samples. Please refer to the Detailed Geology and the SHV Deposits sections for more information.
Conclusion
In summary, work at Spanish Mountain indicates that gold mineralization may continue onto Freeport's claims. Skygold has commented that the orebody is open to the east, with "...potential for the discovery of additional deposits".Recommended work includes sampling, trenching, and drilling to verify extension of the mineralized zone over Freeport's property.
