There are few projects that mine underground placer deposits, but Omineca Mining and Metals is the company doing just that at its Wingdam gold project in south-central British Columbia near the town of Quesnel.
Two recent reverse circulation holes to further define the underground gold-bearing paleochannel before restarting activity are, in Omenica’s words “very exciting”. Hole 23-01 recovered 3 m3 of material that yielded 0.21 gram of gold, giving a gold grade of 3.82 g/m3 from 46 to 49 metres below surface. Hole 23-02 recovered 0.1459 m3 that yielded 3.71 grams of gold, giving the material a grade of 25.41 grams/m3 from 46 to 54 metres below surface.
A bulk sample taken at Wingdam in 2012 recovered 173.4 oz. of gold from an enriched zone only 1.2 meters in excavated thickness crosscutting the paleochannel width of 23.5 metres. The results confirmed earlier seismic mapping that indicated there is a significant bedrock depression just downstream of the bulk sample. This one of five depressions suggested by the seismic data over the first 300 metres of the channel.
The 1.2-meter-thick gold enriched zone of the bulk sample included approximately 0.2 meter of bedrock where significant gold was found trapped in fractures and gouges. New hole 23-02 intercepted an eight-meter interval of gold enriched gravels, which is a very favourable development from the 1.2-meter thickness in 2012, said Omineca in a press release.
The company has posted a video about the Wingdam gold project on www.OminecaMiningAndMetals.com
