Gold Reach climbs on more long Ootsa intercepts

VANCOUVER – Drills continue to return long mineralized intercepts from the West Seel zone at Gold Reach Resources‘ (GRV-V) Ootsa property in northwest British Columbia.

The intercepts are proving the veracity of an old mining mantra: the best place to look for a new discovery is right beside an operating mine. Ootsa lies right beside the Huckleberry copper mine, which is jointly owned by Imperial Metals (III-T) and a consortium of Japanese companies.

The Ootsa property is already home to three defined deposits. The Seel deposit, a classic copper-gold porphyry sitting smack in the middle of the property, boasts 28.1 million indicated tonnes grading 0.22% copper, 0.21 gram gold per tonne, and 1.1 grams silver per tonne, plus 214.8 million inferred tonnes averaging 0.17% copper, 0.13 gram gold, and 2.17 grams silver.

The Ox deposit sits 4 kilometres to the northwest and is home to 16.1 million inferred tonnes grading 0.3% copper and 0.04% molybdenum. East of Seel, the Damascus vein has been traced for 400 metres along strike and a historic estimate (not compliant with National Instrument 43-101 regulations) pegged its resources at 196,000 tonnes averaging 411 grams silver and 7% combined lead and zinc.

West Seel, as the name implies, lies just west of the Seel deposit. Gold Reach discovered mineralization at West Seel in late 2011, and in 2012 the company focused most of its exploration efforts on the new zone. The work produced some very long intercepts, which generated interest from the market.

In June, Gold Reach announced completion of the first two holes of its 2012 drill program, noting that both holes “ended in strong alteration containing visible copper and molybdenum sulphides, indicating the alteration zone remains open at depth.” Investors jumped aboard, and, within a few days, the company’s share price jumped from 60¢ to over $2.

The results from those holes did not disappoint. Hole 101 returned 817 metres grading 0.2% copper, 0.21 gram gold, 0.026% molybdenum, and 2.24 grams silver from 262 metres downhole, while hole 102 cut 650 metres averaging 0.17% copper, 0.09 gram gold, 0.013% moly, and 3.1 grams silver essentially from surface.

As the months passed, West Seel produced more and more of these long intercepts. Hole 106 hit 772 metres of 0.23% copper, 0.14 gram gold, 0.028% moly, and 3.31 grams silver. Then hole 118 cut 537 metres of 0.27% copper, 0.19 gram gold, 0.055% moly, and 2.69 grams silver. Then hole 121 returned 753 metres grading 0.24% copper, 0.12 gram gold, 0.024% moly, and 2.26 grams silver.

The latest results are similar. Hole 137 hit 643 metres averaging 0.19% copper, 0.11 gram gold, 0.011% molybdenum, and 1.64 grams silver from 304 metres downhole. Gold Reach says the grades in this hole were slightly lower because it was collared on what they believe is the eastern edge of the zone. Hole 141, collared near the western limit, returned 358 metres of 0.19% copper, 0.1 gram gold, 0.017% moly, and 2.72 grams silver.

Two other holes tested the connector between Seel and West Seel. Both intersected narrow zones of low-grade mineralization, such as 56 metres grading 0.2% copper, 0.23 gram gold, and 0.015% molybdenum.

With these results, Gold Reach has now defined West Seel over 600 metres vertical depth and 800 metres width; the zone remains open at depth and in all directions.

Gold Reach is still awaiting results from a few more 2012 drill holes. Once they are received the company will set to work calculating a new resource estimate for the Seel and West Seel zones.

News of the latest drill results added a healthy 19¢ to Gold Reach’s share price, lifting it to $1.59. The company has a 52-week share price range of 46.5¢ to $2.13 and has 30 million shares outstanding.