photo credit: sasquatchresources.com
CHEMAINUS – There’s gold in the waste rock at the former Mt. Sicker mine. And copper, silver and zinc.
Sasquatch Resources Corp. of Vancouver has acquired the B.C. mineral claims of Mt. Sicker, where methodical testing has shown the waste rock to contain good values those metals. Once the waste is crushed and run through a sorting process, they expect to create a substantial amount of valuable sulphides, which they intend to ship off-site and toll process.
“This is a big step for Sasquatch, now completing on its option, as we potentially move toward a large reclamation and recovery project at Mount Sicker,” says Sasquatch CEO Pete Smith. “A 530kg sample has already been run through the proposed crushing and sorting process and is currently being tested at ALS Global in North Vancouver, with results expected very soon.”
Smith says the provincial MLA and federal M, have provided letters of support for the project, and First Nations consultation have been ongoing for some time.
“Overall, local support has been highly favourable, and we expect that a corresponding reclamation and remediation plan, long overdue at Mount Sicker, will only serve to further bolster all this positive momentum,” Smith states. “There are numerous possible funding channels which we are currently exploring, stemming from environmental clean-up, local economic stimulation, and critical mineral supply development channels. We expect to provide further updates as we work through the permitting process, which has already begun. This project has the potential to become the model for the exploitation and reclamation/remediation of historical mine sites across BC.”
In early August, Sasquatch entered into an option agreement with Justin Deveault, a director of the Company, respecting two mineral claims covering 340.13 hectares on Vancouver Island.
Under the agreement, Sasquatch has the irrevocable right and option for a period of three years to conduct exploration on the claims and to remove and process minerals from the surface and near-surface of the claims, including without limitation from the mineral “waste rock” on the claims and near-surface exposures on the claims up to a depth of 10m from surface.
The claims are located on the south side of Cowichan Lake, 4.8 kilometres northwest of Honeymoon Bay, near to the Blue Grouse claims that Sasquatch optioned in July, which is only a few hundred meters from a paved access road. Logging roads provide direct access to the area from the paved road.
A historical mine in the area was in production from 1917 to 1919 and from 1956 to 1960, producing copper, silver and gold. The claims are host to a significant amount of waste-rock from previous mining activities. Sasquatch plans to evaluate the waste-rock’s composition, volume, and economic potential over the coming months.
Business Examiner Staff
