Prince George, B.C., (MetalsNews.com, February 10, 2012)
– Barker Minerals Ltd. (“BML” on TSX/V) (the “Company”) announces that in consideration of its
seasonal accessibility, it has begun preparations for a 900 metre exploratory
drilling program on its Mag Gold project which is located 35 kilometres
southeast of Quesnel, British Columbia. (Project Location Map) The Mag
Gold project is ideally situated with excellent year round access and strong infrastructure
and is also located in the prolific Quesnel Trough mining district of B.C.
Some
portions of the property are underlain mainly by a >10km long north-west
trending magnetic feature with strong discrete anomalies within it. The
magnetic feature shoulders a Cretaceous aged intrusive varying from biotite
hornblende monzonite to granodiorite. Another phase consisting of leucocratic
fine grained granite was also identified nearby. (Regional Magnetic Compilation)
Very little exploration work has occurred on the
Mag project with only minor ground magnetic, geochemical soil and heavy mineral
stream sediment surveys being conducted in 1987 by a previous operator. The
magnetic survey confirmed the airborne anomaly and all three heavy mineral
samples draining the Mag target area identified gold values from 875 ppb (.875
grams per ton) to 4600 ppb (4.6 grams per ton). Barker conducted two IP test
lines in 2007 showing chargeability highs increasing to depth within a resistivity
high anomaly indicative of disseminated mineralization within the magnetic
high. Initial drill holes are planned to test a portion of the strong magnetic
anomaly.
.
Platinum
Group Elements (PGE) Potential
Historic
placer gold and platinum operations were conducted below the Mag project along the
Quesnel River but a significant amount of the gold
recovered went unreported as official record keeping only began in the 1870’s.
In the 1920’s the Canadian and U.S. Governments, and their Militaries,
conducted strategic metal surveys in the immediate Quesnel River region which
was successful in identifying significant levels of gold, as well as the PGE
group including platinum, palladium and the more rare PGEs, osmium and iridium
(osmiridium). (Rublee,1986).
The western part of
the property (Quesnel Platinum project area including the Mag project) was
staked for its gold and platinum group element potential, its potentially favourable
geology, the recent dramatic increase in the price of PGEs and the apparent
lack of previous PGE exploration in this area. It contains zones of anomalous
and intense copper concentrations in mafic volcanic rocks and some platinum
group minerals recovered from the predominantly gold-bearing placers associated
with the Quesnel River and some of its tributaries
emanating from the north and east contain potentially significant
concentrations of platinum group elements (Rublee, 1986). The highest concentration was obtained from a
pan concentrate sample collected from Twenty-Mile Creek that assayed 2195 g/t
Pt, 2210 g/t Pd and 1440 g/t Os. In this
concentrate, the gold and PGE minerals were found as minute metallic grains within
larger grains of magnetite and chromite.
Barker Minerals
collected and assayed numerous rock samples to confirm the presence of the
favourable mafic to ultra-mafic rock types, which are host to PGE deposits in
other areas of the world. Thin section petrology confirmed the occurrences and
character of mafic and ultra-mafic rocks which may be a source of the PGEs in
the placers of the Quesnel
River and its
tributaries.
.
Subsequent field and
laboratory verification studies by the B.C. Geological Survey in 2001 (Geological
fieldwork 2001, paper 2002-1) confirmed the presence of significant concentrations
of gold and PGEs in the Quesnel
River drainage concentrates,
and also recognized a new platinum occurrence in the Black Bear project area.
Concentrations of PGEs and gold in the Quesnel River
concentrates from this study were up to 2,489 ppb Pt (2.49 g/p/t) and 259,000
ppb (259 g/p/t) gold from fire assay analysis.
The
scientific and technical information contained in this news release was
prepared under the supervision of Rein Turna, B.Sc., P.Geo. the Company's
"qualified person" under National Instrument 43-101 Standards of
Disclosure for Mineral Projects.
About Barker Minerals
Barker Minerals is
advancing exploration on its mineral properties in the Cariboo Gold District,
one of the most mineralized belts in British
Columbia. The Company has 20 projects on its
exploration properties, all of which are 100% owned by Barker Minerals. Eight
projects have drill-ready gold and/or massive sulphide targets.
Certain statements in
this press release may be considered forward-looking information, including
those relating to "plans" of the Company. Such information involves
known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors -- including the availability
of funds, the results of financing and exploration activities, the
interpretation of drilling results and other geological data, project cost
overruns or unanticipated costs and expenses and other risks identified by the
Company in its public securities filings -- that may cause actual events to
differ materially from current expectations. Readers are cautioned not to place
undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the
date of this press release. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation
to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT
EITHER:
Louis E. Doyle Robert H. Kuhl
Tel:
(250) 563-8752 Tel:
(604) 321-0709
Fax:
(250) 563-8751 Fax:
(604) 321-0719
barker@telus.net bmls@shaw.ca
www.barkerminerals.com
Neither the TSX
Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined
in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the
adequacy or accuracy of this release.