Duthie mine top priority for Bishop Resources in ’87

The Duthie mine property near Smithers, B.C., will be a top priority for Bishop Resources Development this year. The company acquired its interest in the project from Duthie Holdings, a family concern which has been operating since 1979. Bishop must pay a minimum of $20,000 annually against a sliding- scale royalty of 7.5%-12.5%.

The mine has produced intermittently since 1922 with significant amounts of gold, silver, lead, zinc and copper shipped out in flotation concentrate and as direct shipping ore. Since 1979, approximately 3,000 tons of ore has been removed, representing a gross value of $3.5 million, the company points out.

Bishop says that average mill recovery grades for the past two years have been 32.2 oz silver and 0.06 oz gold per ton. Numerous ore shoots are known to exist along four major fault zones which vary in dip from 50 degrees -70 degrees . There are approximately two miles of underground adits, drifts, crosscuts, winzes and raises which indicate continuity to the mineralization over a strike length of 4,000 ft and at least 1,200 ft vertically, says the company.

Results from chip sampling in the lower reaches of the mine included values as high as 67.5 oz silver and 0.25 oz gold over 4.5 ft. Most of the veins average 3-4 ft in width and there are indications the width and grade increases with depth, the company says. Surface and underground programs are under way to determine the lateral and down-dip extension of mineralization over the property.

The acquisition agreement with Duthie Holdings allows Bishop to remove 100,000 tons of ore over a 5-year period from each of two separate claim blocks for a total of 200,000 tons. The company says that approximately 6,000 tons of high grade material should be available for milling by the time production starts in April. Plans are in place to expand the present mill circuit to 50 tons per day.

Bishop also has a precious metals property 25 miles north of the Equity Silver mine at Houston, B.C., and a gold prospect northeast of Reno, Nev.