Cranbrook, B.C., 23 March, 2015: Omineca Mining and Metals Inc. (TSX-V:OMM) is pleased to announce that drilling and geophysical crews have been mobilized to the Wingdam placer gold project near Quesnel, BC.
The purpose of the 2015 exploration program is to better define the location and shape of the gold bearing Deep Lead Channel buried approximately 50 meters beneath the Lightning Creek gravels. 8-12 sonic drill holes will be used to accurately locate the bedrock/gravel interface along the rim and center of the Deep Lead Channel. Selected holes will be completed with PVC casing and then surveyed using a downhole seismic array. The seismic data will be integrated with data collected concurrently from 7 seismic lines across the width of the channel to provide an accurate profile of the channel, as well as identify the location of the high grade keel in the center of the channel.
Past efforts to extract gold-rich gravel with underground mining at Wingdam were frustrated by the influx of unconsolidated gravels into mine workings. The ability to accurately predict the shape of the channel rim and the exact location of the channel center will be critical to developing the buried Deep Lead placer gravels using the freeze mining method pioneered by CVG Mining in 2011.
The sonic drilling will be carried out by Valiant Drilling of Vancouver BC using a tracked drill. Geophysical data collection and interpretation will be done by Frontier Geosciences of North Vancouver, BC.
About the Wingdam Project:
Through its’ 100% ownership of CVG Mining, OMM controls the Wingdam project, which holds strong potential to develop near-term gold production in a proven mining district. The property overlies both placer and hard-rock tenures along the Deep Lead Channel of Lightning Creek, where topographic conditions have created a deep overburden accumulation which effectively resulted in a large portion of the channel being excluded from conventional surface placer mining activity. On the Wingdam property, drilling and geophysical work indicate that the Deep Lead Channel may occur throughout the entire 2.4km length of the Wingdam placer tenures, extending upstream and downstream an undetermined distance. Numerous attempts have been made to mine the Deep Lead Channel in the Wingdam area since the late 1880s, but all were hampered by an influx of water and unstable ground conditions and were ultimately abandoned.
In 2012 CVG successfully completed a crosscut drift 23.5m across the Deep Lead Channel along the bedrock/gravel interface, using the Australian deep-lead mining method combined with a ground-freeze method. This effort not only proved the applicability of the freeze method, but also provided a bulk sample whereby “the gold recovered from the 23.5-meter drift advance across the paleochannel true width amounted to 173.495 ounces of raw placer gold (900 fineness) from 140 bank cubic meters. The refined-equivalent gold grade across this width amounted to 34.55 g/m3 or 0.453 oz/tonne. The grade across a central portion of the paleochannel totaling 14.8 m (3.8 to 18.6m) averaged 46.30 g/m3 or 0.608 oz/tonne” (S. Kocsis 43-101 technical report, Oct, 2012).
The abundance and physical nature of the placer gold recovered during the 2012 test mining operation indicates that it is in part, locally derived. Little or no systematic exploration work has been carried out on the property to test for the occurrence of lode gold, leaving excellent potential for the exploration and possible discovery of in-situ (hard-rock) gold mineralization in addition to the presence of a proven placer deposit.
The Wingdam project received final permitting in January, 2015 to conduct Phase One testing along a 300m drift length, with potential for expansion contingent on favourable results. Omineca recently completed at $270,000 financing (announced January 20th), with funds earmarked for advanced geotechnical and exploratory activity, expected to be carried out in the near future.
The program will be carried out under the supervision of C.C. Downie, P.Geo., hereby identified as the “Qualified Person” under N.I. 43-101.
About Omineca Mining and Metals Ltd.
Omineca Mining and Metals continues to advance the Wingdam/Lightning Creek project in central British Columbia within the prolific Cariboo Goldfields. The project features a deep paleochannel containing undisturbed gold-bearing gravels. Numerous unsuccessful attempts have been made over the past 120 years, but recent technological advances in mining will be utilized to unlock the value of the project. On behalf of the Board of Directors
Signed,
“Charles Downie”
President |