Uragold Bay Resources Inc. (TSX VENTURE:UBR), has announced that a drilling program has been agreed upon and shortly a drilling contractor will be appointed to start drilling approximately twenty drill holes at the Beauce Placer Gold Property.
At first, Uragold's interest in the property was focused on examining the tailings of the Beauce Placer Company's 1960s placer gold mine operation. However, trenching and field investigations revealed un-mined segments of the paleoplacer channel. Re-interpretation of the available data for the Beauce Placer Project suggests that gold is contained within a volume of influence in the immediate area of the dredging operation.
The paleo-placer channel runs parallel to the southern side of the Gilbert River. It is believed the pre-glacial weathering of the Appalachian Mountains during the Mesozoic Era formed the placer gold deposit.
Most of the historical gold values were seen to be at the till – bedrock contact. As the gold is found at the contact and crevices in the bedrock, it appears the dredge could not mine the richest part of the channel. Beauce Placer Co. overestimated the effectiveness of the Yuba dredge. It was not designed to mine through the thick glacial Jonville Till that is peppered with large boulders. The buckets of the dredge repeatedly broke or would snag, causing the dredge to sink forward.
Drilling will be done through the till and a couple of metres into the fractured shale bedrock. The holes will vary in depth from 10 to 25 metres. Section lines will run across mined and un-mined segments of the paleochannel. One-metre samples will be collected and assayed for contained gold.
The additional drilling will be carried out in a manner that will rationalize past drill results to allow both confirmation of the existing resource and hopefully an addition of further resource.
Uragold believes that a considerable amount of gold could be found on the property. If drilling results and trial mining efforts are positive, a low cost profitable placer mining operation could be put in operation. This could provide cash flow to the company and help contribute to the exploration of other projects with blue sky potential.
The discovery of gold in the Gilbert River launched Canada's first gold rush in the 1850s, decades before the Klondike. Two of the largest gold nuggets found in Canada came from the gravels of the Gilbert, the Kilgour nugget at 52 ounces and the McDonald nugget at 45 ounces.
The best values were found in the paleoplacer channels. Down stream from Uragold some miners in the 1880's made some spectacular winnings from underground tunnels and shafts. Most successful was Mr W.P. Lockwood a private entrepreneur.. 1898 reports by Obalski for the Department of Colonization and Mines, Province of Quebec, states that Mr Lockwood describes that the highest gold grades are found in the bottom 1.5 metres of gravels at the bedrock as well as half a meter below bedrock in fissures and crevices.
All information herewith presented is historical in nature and while relevant, the information was obtained before the implementation of National Instrument 43-101 and as such does not meet National Instrument 43-101 reporting standards. The historical estimate should not be relied upon until the Company can confirm them.
Mr Vivian Stuart-Williams, (SACNASP), a Director of the Company and a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, supervised the preparation of the information in this news release.
Source: Uragold Bay Resources Inc.