RE: Majors Rediscovering British ColumbiaThanks nopoo for the insightful article by Richard Mills.
I especially like tha fact that SPA's discovery is designated as
Sediment Hosted Vein deposit;.
"Sediment Hosted Vein (SHV) deposit’s
The term Sediment Hosted Vein (SHV) deposit is used for a family of gold deposits that consist of gold in quartz and quartz-carbonate veins hosted by shale and siltstone sedimentary rocks. These deposits occur throughout the world, but are most prolific in size and number in Asia. Most are poorly known to westerners because of their location in the former Soviet Union.
SHV gold deposits are some of the largest in the world:
· Muruntau >80M oz. “Hilly place” opened in the Kyzyl-Kum desert of Uzbekistan in 1969.The mine is still worked as an open pit now nearly 4km (2.5 miles) long, over 2.5km (1.55 miles) wide, and nearly 400 metres (1,300 feet) deep. The Muruntau Mine produces enough gold to make the Republic of Uzbekistan the world's ninth largest gold producing country - the mine produces around 70% of Uzbekistan’s total gold output
· Sukhoy Log >20M oz. Detailed exploration of the Sukhoi Log deposit started in the autumn of 1971. The work included 209.6 km of diamond core drilling in 846 drill holes, 11.7 km of underground drives, 61 raises, 110.3 km of trenches, 13,000 channel samples, three bulk samples of 150 t, 800 t, and 980 t and tens of thousands of assays for gold, In addition to the Sukhoi Log deposit, several lesser gold deposits of the same type were discovered in the region
· Amantaytau, Daugiztau, Kumtor, Bakirchik, Olympiada, Nezhdaninskoe, Natalka, and Maysky are all over 5M oz
All SHV deposits have characteristics in common with each other:
· Tectonic setting · Host rocks· Alteration style· Metal content· Hydrothermal fluid chemistry· Absolute and relative timing of formation
Attractive characteristic of SHV deposits are:
· They can be gold-only systems and therefore are metallurgically simple· SHV deposits are associated with prolific placer gold fields if conditions are right for the formation of placer deposits· Sulfide content is low for this type of deposit· Type of setting is specific and identifiable among sedimentary belts of the world· SHV deposits occur in groups, usually with one large deposit associated with numerous satellite deposits
Spanish Mountain Gold SPA - tsx.v
So far, Spanish Mtn. Gold has put 323 diamond drill holes - representing 74,797 meters of drilling - into its Likely, British Columbia Spanish Mountain project.
2009 Spanish Mountain resource estimate
| Resource Category | Cut-off (g/t Au) | Million tonnes | Gold (g/t) | Gold (ounces) |
| Measured | 0.40 | 58.57 | 0.733 | 1,380,000 |
| Indicated | 0.40 | 89.87 | 0.644 | 1,860,000 |
| Inferred | 0.40 | 17.06 | 0.677 | 370,000 |
Over 50% of the deposit is close to the surface. The Gold is contained in 9 zones, that may sound like a lot but 90% of the gold is in just 3 zones. In those 3 zones 60% of the contained gold is close to the surface. Using a .7g/t cut-off 50% of the gold grading over 1g/t tonne is in the upper layer.
A three-dimensional geologic model recently completed demonstrates a shallow north-south structural corridor of mineralization that may extend for over 2000 meters, is up to 600meters in width, is open to the north, south and to depth, has a low strip ratio and might is amenable to open pit mining.
Preliminary metallurgical recovery test work consisting of a coarse grind and simple flotation followed by regrinding and direct cyanidation obtain recoveries between 88-90%.
All needed infrastructure – power, water, rail, supplies and major highways are close by. There are many operating mines in the area and locals are very receptive to resource extraction as a way to make a living. There is an experienced trained labor pool to draw from in the nearby towns of Likely, Williams Lake and 100 Mile House and supplies are easy to access.
Spanish Mountain Gold has a new name (formerly Skygold TSX - SKV.v) a new office, logo, website and new management team. Insider share ownership has gone from less than one percent to roughly 22% of outstanding shares.
Spanish Mountain will commission a Preliminary Economic Assessment shortly and this report should be ready by late summer."