THUNDER COPPER PROPERTY
CU - AU PORPHYRY PROSPECT
The Thunder Copper Property consists of 2444.91 ha, is owned jointly by BC Mining Properties & Geotronics Consulting Ltd. and is located 40 km west-northwest of Goldbridge, British Columbia, approximately 235 km north of Vancouver.
THUNDER COPPER PROPERTY - GEOLOGY & SHOWINGS MAPS
5 KEY SHOWINGS HAVE BEEN DISCOVERED TO DATE
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The 2445 hectare Thunder Copper, NTS map sheets 92J/13E and 14W, is located in the Lillooet Mining Division, British Columbia, 40 km west-northwest of Goldbridge approximately 235 km by road from Vancouver, British Columbia at a latitude of 50°55’N and longitude of 123°25’W. The property comprises the Copper 1 to 27 Mineral Tenure Online claims, 100% owned by BC Mining Properties & Geotronics Consulting Ltd. Thunder Copper is primarily underlain by the probable early Tertiary granitic, 5 by 14 km Bridge River Pluton, which intrudes Late Cretaceous quartz diorite to the south and east and adjoins a larger, similarly aged granodiorite body, the Lord River Pluton, to the north, west and southwest. The intrusive rocks are locally overlain by flat lying Miocene aged plateau basaltic flows and intruded by related basalt to diorite feeder dykes and felsite, quartz porphyry and feldspar porphyry dykes. The deposit model for the property is the bulk-mineable plutonic hosted, calcalkaline porphyry copper±molybdenum±gold model. Examples include Highland Valley Copper and Gibraltar in British Columbia and Chuquicamata, La Escondida and Quebrada Blanca in Chile. Commodities are copper, molybdenum and gold in varying quantities with minor silver in most deposits.Thirteen copper, ±gold, ±molybdenum porphyry occurrences are documented within a belt 10-15 km north of the Bridge River Project and the Poison Mountain developed prospect is located 60 km to the northeast with 280 million tonnes of 0.261 % Cu, 0.142 g/t Au, 0.007% Mo and 0.514 g/t Ag delineated in one zone, associated with a similar age intrusion to the Bridge River Pluton.
The Thunder Copper Property covers the Nichol, Russnor and BR porphyry copper Minfile showings (documented mineral occurrences on file with the British Columbia Geological Survey), with associated gold, silver and molybdenum values, over a 12 km extent within the granitic Bridge River Pluton. Other showings include Copper Plateau (adjoining the BR showing to the north), Windy Copper (covering Cominco’s 1931 #3 showing, reportedly carrying 3.26% Cu over 9.1m and 0.44% Cu across 24.5m and the Contact zone, discovered in 2008 with maximum values of 1.48% Cu), the Canyon zone (pyritic and altered granite discovered in 2007 that may represent a pyritic halo to the porphyry copper system), and the UBR (reported as minor fracture controlled and blebby chalcopyrite mineralization).
The Nichol showing, in the eastern project area, covers an open ended 600 by 400m zone carrying 4.73% Cu, 32.8 g/t Ag, 0.16 g/t Au, 0.015% Mo over 1m and 2.08% Cu over 4.5m from trenching and 3.50% Cu, 34.3 g/t Ag, 0.079% Mo over 8.5m from drilling. Previous work concentrated on the high grade “veins”, which may represent silica-sulphide mineralization in the core of the porphyry system. The Russnor showing, in the central project area, covers an intrusive breccia (Russnor Breccia) with values of 1.38% Cu over 30.5m from an old adit, 0.57% Cu over 60m and 1.00% Cu over 16.2m from the canyon of Thunder Creek, and 0.30% Cu over 36.6m from drilling.
At the BR showing, mineralization, consisting of chalcopyrite, malachite, azurite, bornite, chalcocite, magnetite and trace molybdenite in fractures, extends over a 1.7 km by 0.5 km area with a central higher grade zone 1.45 km by 150 to 300m wide, primarily exposed along south facing cliffs north of the North Fork of the Bridge River. Alteration primarily consists of widespread propyllitization with fracture controlled sericite and potassic alteration and local silicification. Intrusive breccia bodies, including some hydrothermal breccias are present. Previous results from the BR showing include 1.08% Cu, 0.05% Mo across 1m from quartz-sulphide veins, 0.14% Cu over 17m from 1960’s trenching and 0.134% Cu over 9m ±molybdenum from the bottom of DDH 71-1. Re-sampling of the above trench in 2009 returned 0.25% Cu over 10m. In 2008 to 2009, mineralization was traced into the plateau area above the BR (more amenable to open pit mining than the mineralized cliffs to the south). A 450 by 550m copper in soil anomaly was delineated on the Copper Plateau (open onto the copper bearing cliffs to the south and open to the east) with a maximum value of 4120 ppm Cu and 75 ppb Au, and 457 ppm Mo in soil obtained 1.5 km northeast of the grid. Significant 2009 hand trench results, limited by the length of the trench, include 0.49% Cu over 4.5m and 0.84% Cu over 2.8m.
In 2010 a 13.5 line km soil survey over the Russnor showing delineated a strong open ended northerly trending 1 km long by up to 600m wide copper-silver-gold anomaly, with the Russnor Breccia restricted to a <150m long zone along the eastern margin of the Russnor Anomaly. A 3.5 line km soil survey over the Windy Copper showing, 3 km to the north-northwest of the Russnor, delineated a 400 by 350m copper in soil anomaly and an open ended 550m by 125m wide northeast trending gold in soil anomaly; prospecting exposed copper mineralization over a 1 km by 400m area. A 2011 exploration program consisted of 2031.5 metres of NQ size diamond drilling in 9 holes testing the Copper Plateau - BR zone with 5 holes and the Russnor Breccia with 4 holes and was successful in intersecting broad zones of copper mineralization, with anomalous copper intersected in four of the five drill holes at Copper Plateau – BR and in DDH RS11-06 at the Russnor showing. The 2011 results from the Copper Plateau include 0.033% Cu over 206m (including 0.060 over 87.5m) from DDH CP11-04, 0.051% Cu over 99m from DDH CP11-01, 0.053% Cu over 85m from DDH CP11-03 (including 0.090 over 36.6m), and 0.043% Cu over 69m from DDH CP11-05. DDH CP11-02 intersected a post mineral latite dyke resulting in no significant copper values being encountered. DDH RS11-06 at the Russnor showing returned 0.043% Cu over 189m, including 0.103% Cu over 18m, from the southern extension of the Russnor Breccia zone. DDH RS11-07 was collared too far to the west, DDH RS11-08 was lost at the basal basalt regolith above the granite host and DDH RS11-09 was drilled at the wrong dip. Exploration to date on the Russnor has been confined to the road accessible eastern edge of the Russnor soil anomaly.
A $200,000 Phase 1 exploration program including a 1,200 line km helicopter supported multi-parameter (radiometric, electromagnetic and high resolution magnetic) airborne geophysical survey was recommended over the Bridge River pluton, followed by an evaluation of the Russnor soil anomaly, the anomalies generated by the airborne survey, and the Nichol area by prospecting and mapping, with detailed chip sampling of the Nichol showing, in order to delineate drill targets. This should be followed by an $800,000 Phase 2 program of induced polarization geophysical surveys over targets within the Russnor Anomaly, Nichols showing area, and over select airborne geophysical anomalies, followed by diamond drilling.
DEPOSIT TYPE
The deposit model for the Thunder Copper Property is the bulk-mineable plutonic hosted, calcalkaline porphyry copper±molybdenum±gold model. Examples include Highland Valley Copper and Gibraltar in British Columbia and Chuquicamata, La Escondida and Quebrada Blanca in Chile. Commodities are copper, molybdenum and gold in varying quantities with minor silver in most deposits. The following characteristics of the calcalkaline porphyry copper±molybdenum±gold deposit model are primarily summarized from Panteleyev (1995). Mineralization typically occurs as sulfide-bearing veinlets, fracture fillings and lesser disseminations in large hydrothermally altered zones (up to 100 ha in size) with quartz veinlets and stockworks, commonly wholly or partially coincident with intrusion or hydrothermal breccias and dyke swarms, hosted by porphyritic intrusions and related breccia bodies. Sulfide mineralogy includes pyrite, chalcopyrite, with lesser molybdenite, bornite and magnetite. Two main ages of mineralization are evident in the Canadian Cordillera, Triassic to Jurassic (210-180 Ma) and Cretaceous to Tertiary (85-45 Ma). Alteration generally consists of an early central potassic zone that can be variably overprinted by potassic (potassium feldspar and biotite), phyllic (quartz-sericite-pyrite), less commonly argillic and rarely, advanced argillic (kaolinite-pyrophyllite) in the uppermost zones.