Canquest to drill its Microgold property

Junior Canquest Resource (VSE) is gearing up to explore prospective ground in British Columbia. In addition to acquiring three precious metals and polymetallic properties, the company has an option to buy a fourth. All are at, or near, the drilling stage.

“All our properties have potential for deposits that would interest major companies,” says Vice-President Ian Semple. “Most have easy access and can be worked year-round.”

Within the next few months, Canquest intends to drill an epithermal gold system at its wholly owned Microgold property at Stump Lake, 40 km south of Kamloops.

Sampling has resulted in the identification of an intensely anomalous gold zone within a larger area of anomalous outcrops. Other targets on the property remain to be tested.

Gold mineralization has been observed in various settings: within extensive, thick, flat-lying to domal, highly siliceous layers and altered zones in volcanic rocks; within quartz-carbonate-filled fracture zones; and in steeply dipping, siliceous veins.

Canquest says the epithermal system on the Microgold property is bounded by two regional fractures that appear to contain and confine the gold mineralization.

Based on the geological, geophysical and geochemical setting, the Microgold property is believed to have potential to host bulk-tonnage, low-grade surface and shallow deposits minable by open-pit, as well as high-grade “bonanza-vein” deposits amenable to underground mining.

The initial drilling will focus on probing the fracture system for “bonanza-vein” gold mineralization in the Kullagh Lake and West zones. Subsequent drilling will be aimed at defining reserves.

Canquest also hopes to continue drilling this year at its wholly owned Cottonbelt property near Revelstoke. The target here is a stratabound, polymetallic deposit.

The property encompasses the Mt. Grace syncline, a regional structure with stratiform horizons containing mineralization of copper, lead, zinc, silver and minor gold. The property is believed to have similarities to the Broken Hill deposit in Australia.

Canquest also owns the Magnolia property on Texada Island, where two copper-gold skarn occurrences will be trenched in preparation for drilling. The company also holds an option to buy the OK property, near Powell River, a porphyry copper-molybdenum-silver prospect. The OK was previously drilled and is known to host a geological resource of 155 million tonnes of 0.39% copper and 0.024% molybdenite.