CEO and President Alan Burton
Precious metals exploration company American Creek Resources has exciting times ahead, with two of its properties in particularly promising real potential for a major breakthrough. We caught up with CEO and President Allan Burton, who founded the company after a career practicing law in Calgary. He says: “I started the company with my partner in 2004. We were talking that metals were going to dramatically increase over the next few years. We were right. We went public in 2006 and we’re on the TSX Venture Exchange.”
Precious Metal Exploration
The company concentrates on the acquisition, exploration and development of properties in British Columbia, Canada, focusing on precious metals — mainly gold and silver. It has active properties at Treaty Creek in the “Golden Triangle”, the Electrum project that is set in the “Golden Triangle”, about 45 kilometers North of Stewart and Ironmist, which is located at the southern end of the Quesnel Trough. Of these, Treaty Creek and Ironmist are currently causing the most excitement.
Undeveloped Deposit
A property that’s causing major excitement is Treaty Creek, which has the potential for gold, silver and copper. The property is in the “Golden Triangle “and, crucially, is adjacent to Seabridge Gold’s Mitchell deposit in the KSM project, which is the largest undeveloped gold and copper deposit in the world.
Allan comments: “They’re on one side of the ridge and we’re on the other side. We’ve had some results that are very promising. Last summer, we did 9,500 meters of drilling of high-grade intersections. For example, we did 241 meters of 0.8 grams per tonne of gold and very similar to the type of grade they’re hitting at the Mitchell deposit just south of us.”
American Creek acquired a 51% controlling interest in Treaty Creek from Teuton Resources Corp in March 2007 by spending $5 million on exploration. The next stage of work there is to go back in the summer and undertake another program. Although its size is not established, it will focus on two main targets. The first of these is the Copper Belle, a porphyry style system similar to the ones immediately to the south on Seabridge Gold’s property. Copper Belle contains drill hole CB-14, which is the largest interval of gold drilled so far at Treaty Creek.
The other area they’re focusing on is also causing a lot of optimism. Allan explains: “We also have a VMS structure called GR2 and some of our samples on that are promising. We’ve had gold intersections of 21.85 grams over a meter, 17.29 grams over 1.5 meters, 14.3 grams over 0.9 meters. We’ve also had over 2,200 grams per tonne silver over half a meter.”l
Electrum
The Electrum Property has a rich history with some of the highest grade ore mined in North America combined with excellent logistics.
With past production, and recent discoveries on adjoining ground, the Electrum Property holds significant potential for discovery of an economic gold and silver deposit.
Electrum is located in the Golden Triangle of northwestern British Columbia, an area encompassing prolific mineral rich belts that hosts more than 43 past producing mines.
Historically hand mined electrum ore had grades of 1,661 grams of gold per tonne and 2,596 grams of silver per tonne.
Electrum has significant drill results as high as 440 grams of gold per tonne and 400 grams of silver per tonne over 0.52 meters, as well as additional elevated silver values of 420 grams of silver per tonne over 0.91 meters and 384 grams of silver per tonne over 0.70 meters. Several other intervals ranged from 100 to 200 grams of silver per tonne.
There are existing roads from property to shipping port in Stewart, where essential services are located. Power is available within 18 kilometers of the property.
The Electrum Property has the potential for high-grade gold-silver mineralization in epithermal breccia vein systems as well as the potential for bulk tonnage porphyry style molybdenum-gold mineralization.
Magnetite Seam
Ironmist
The Ironmist property was originally known as Goldmist, which gives some indication of the changing prospects there. Allan explains: “In 2006, the British Columbia Geological Survey did an airborne survey of the Quesnel Trough, including our Goldmist property. They discovered what they called a perfect bull’s-eye, an anomaly. We didn’t get on it for a couple of years but, last year, we finally got to do some drilling and it’s an iron ore deposit. We drilled 615 meters over seven holes.”
Drilling was concentrated on the large magnetic anomaly that had been identified by the airborne survey. Each of the seven holes went through magnetic deposits with vanadium. Some of the holes never made it to the end of the magnetite-rich zones, indicating the potential for massive high grade magnetite in some areas.
Confidence in the Ironmist property arises not only from the results of the drilling but also from its location. “It’s within four kilometers of a paved highway, rail, the Thomson River and a power transmission line,” says Allan. “The logistics are excellent and our initial grades are great as well. If there’s something there, the cost of getting it into production will be extremely low.”
Advanced testing of the magnetite / vanadium revealed concentrate levels averaging 67% iron (93% magnetite) give the possibility of the concentrate being DSO (direct shipping ore)
These assays also indicate that the high concentrate levels can be obtained with a single pass crush and screening process, that any potential contaminants in the iron are very low, and that the concentrated levels of vanadium may be economically viable. Rail, high power transmission lines and a highway run through the property giving it excellent logistics.
Logistics
The British Columbia government has plans to bring in a major power transmission line, which will help all the mines. And, as Allan points out, the fact that there are so many mines is a major plus point: “Seabridge Gold has 38 million ounces measured and indicated gold in that area and ten billion pounds of copper measured and indicated.
“They’re right next to Silver Standard’s field, which has 23 million ounces of gold and 2.3 million pounds of copper. If those projects go ahead, we think there’ll be a spin-off synergy there and that’s bound to help. The projects have to be economical. I think we need one of those projects to go ahead and then the spin-off will be very good for the rest of us.”
Copper Belle
Tunnelling Project
Seabridge Gold has plans to construct twin tunnels to transport ore for processing from its KSM project. These tunnels will pass through American Creek’s property and Allan is determined that permission will only be granted if there is maximum benefit to his company.
The company’s two main properties are in areas that are steeped in mining and where there is very little other activity. Allan remarks: “At Treaty Creek, the only business is mining up there. It has a hundred year history as a mining district. Our iron deposit is also in a mining area. The beauty of it is that it’s in a beetle infested area so there are logging roads but the timber’s been pretty well wiped out and the area is anxious to have something coming in. They’re very favorable to mining.”
His message to investors is to keep watching for developments, and not just of American Creek’s own property but of those around, especially at Treaty Creek. In his view, any growth in the size of neighboring projects has to be good news for everyone there.
Kelvin at Treaty
The iron deposit, he reckons, also has real potential. He says: “We’ve only scratched the surface on it, but it’s absolutely textbook. The infrastructure is there. We know we’ve got good grades; if we do more drilling and it looks like the size of the deposit is what it needs to be, there’s some real value there.
“I think the market right now doesn’t even know about it. So, it’s definitely a new story and something that investors should watch for.”
For more information:
http://www.americancreek.com
Investor Relations
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