Research effort benefits juniors

Associated companies Kenrich Mining (VSE) and Ambergate Exploration (VSE) are contributing to a research effort aimed at identifying possible extensions of the favorable Eskay Creek stratigraphy on ground they hold north of Stewart, B.C.

The companies are members of the Mineral Deposit Research Unit’s (MDRU’s) Iskut project. Also involved are the University of British Columbia, the federal and provincial governments and at least 10 mining companies. Part of MDRU’s overall effort is focused on Kenrich and Ambergate’s 77,000-acre Corey project. The juniors are equal owners of the large property which lies west of the Kerr-Sulphurets camp, south of Granges’ Unuk River property and north of the Doc property and past-producing Granduc mine. Ongoing research this season will further test a hypothesis that the favorable Eskay Creek stratigraphy extends southward into the Kenrich and Ambergate holdings. Recent mapping by the MDRU team — combined with a better understanding of the Eskay Creek genesis and stratigraphy — suggests that the key felsic volcanic unit and overlying sediments, as well as mafic volcanic rocks of the Salmon River formation (host to the Eskay Creek 21 zone), may continue as far south as the Granduc property.

The major and junior companies active in the region appear to be securing ground and concentrating their efforts on this north-south assemblage (the Eskay Creek facies), rather than on the east-west Mt. Dilworth formation which was previously considered to be the most prospective unit. Kenrich and Ambergate have assembled an advisory team including Jerry Blackwell and others familiar with the Eskay Creek region. A $750,000 work program is under way on the Corey property, which includes $150,000 of MDRU funding.

The early-stage program will involve prospecting and soil geochemistry, as well as modifying the database. Previous work has identified at least a dozen showings and a number of anomalies which are yet to be drill-tested. “By August, we hope to be selecting targets for drilling either later this year or in the 1994 season,” Blackwell said.