Drilling at Talisker Resources’ 42-sq.-km Bralorne gold project in British Columbia has returned high-grade gold from new veins as well as from existing structures.
Of the three holes in the most recent release, two returned high-grade intercepts. Hole SB-2020-004 was drilled around the past-producing Pioneer mine and returned 0.5 metres of 27.6 g/t gold starting at 320.5 metres as well as 0.5 metre of 12.65 g/t gold from 374.4 metres.
Both of these intersections are from the P Main vein and its splays down-dip. Hole SB-2020-005A, completed in the Bralorne area, assayed 5.1 metres of 19.97 g/t gold starting at 102.7 metres, which includes higher-grade intervals, and 1 metre of 5.81 g/t gold from 563 metres. The intercepts above 500 metres depth are from a new vein and its halos.
“Hole 5A returned our highest-grade and widest mineralized intercept to date,” Terry Harbort, the company’s president and CEO, said in a release.
“We are also very pleased to be encountering numerous previously unknown mineralized structures, with these additional veins highlighting the growing potential of the Bralorne project.”
An 11,200-metre drill program is underway at Bralorne, with a focus on high-grade veins. Hole 5A was the first drillhole completed as part of the company’s second-stage plan, which is targeting structures around historic workings based on historic exploration results.
These targets are between 750 metres and 1,500 metres below surface. While 5A was terminated early at 737.4 metres in March due to the covid-19 pandemic, drilling restarted in May and the hole was completed down to a depth of 1,013.1 metres. The assays above are from the upper portion of this hole while assays from the lower part are pending.
The Bralorne project includes three historic mines: Pioneer, Bralorne and King. These were in production for over 50 years and generated 7.3 million tonnes grading 17.7 g/t gold from 30 veins.
There are an additional 33 veins traced at the site; according to Talisker, all 63 of these appear to be open at depth and most are also open for expansion along strike. This past-producing site features a drift sample database with 45,000 assays as well as a database of 1,931 drillholes.
In November 2019, Talisker entered into a purchase agreement with Avino Silver and Gold Mines to acquire a 100% interest in Bralorne.
In addition to Bralorne, Talisker holds the 2,260.4-sq.-km Spences Bridge project, covering approximately 85% of the emerging Spences Bridge gold belt in southern B.C. The company’s properties in the south-central part of the province cover a total of 2,911.7 sq. km.
(This article first appeared in the Canadian Mining Journal)