BAM is a resource-stage gold-copper exploration project within a well-known area of British Columbia’s Golden Triangle. P2 is advancing exploration at BAM on multiple zones: a historical copper zone; the Monarch Gold Zone which was first discovered by P2 in 2020; and a potential gold/copper porphyry system.
Location and access to infrastructure
The BAM Project consists of 64 mineral tenures that cover an area of over 27,000 hectares, located approximately 150 kilometers northwest of Stewart, BC. BAM has good access to existing infrastructure, with Highway 37 and the Northwest Transmission Line approximately 35 kilometers to the east of the project, and the Galore Creek Project access road approximately two kilometers to the southeast.
P2 Gold’s opportunity – advance a gold discovery near good access to infrastructure
The BAM Project first came to prominence in the 1960s with the discovery of the Jan Copper Zone and again in the 1980s with the discovery of high-grade gold in surface trenches, but had not been systematically explored for large porphyry related copper-gold or a bulk tonnage gold-silver system using modern exploration techniques prior to its optioning by P2. The project’s newly-discovered Monarch Gold Zone is open in multiple directions and the project has potential to host gold/copper porphyry mineralization.
January 2023 Initial Mineral Resource Estimate for BAM’s Monarch Gold Zone
P2 Gold retained P&E Mining Consultants Inc. (“P&E”) to prepare an Initial Mineral Resource Estimate (“MRE”) for the Monarch Gold Zone, based on six diamond drill holes (836 metres) completed by the Company in 2021 and 95 diamond drill holes (13,963 metres) completed by the Company in 2022. (See news release dated January 24, 2023.) See Tables 1 and 2 below.
Table 1: January 2023 BAM Project, Monarch Gold Zone, Pit Constrained Inferred Mineral Resource Estimate (1 - 5 )
Tonnes
(M)
Gold Grade
(g/t)
Silver
Grade
(g/t)
Gold
(M oz)
Silver
(M oz)
Gold
Eq.
Grade (g/t)
Gold
Eq.
(M oz)
27.2
0.59
2.52
0.52
2.21
0.62
0.55
Mineral Resources which are not Mineral Reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. The estimate of Mineral Resources may be materially affected by environmental, permitting, legal, title, taxation, sociopolitical, marketing, or other relevant issues.
The Inferred Mineral Resource in this estimate has a lower level of confidence than that applied to an Indicated Mineral Resource and must not be converted to a Mineral Reserve. It is reasonably expected that the majority of the Inferred Mineral Resource could be upgraded to an Indicated Mineral Resource with continued exploration.
The Mineral Resources in this press release were estimated using the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM), Standards on Mineral Resources and Reserves, Definitions (2014) and Best Practices (2019) prepared by the CIM Standing Committee on Reserve Definitions and adopted by CIM Council.
The Mineral Resource Estimate was prepared for a potential open pit scenario using a constraining pit shell (with 50 degree slopes) at a 0.2 g/t gold equivalent cut-off grade. The gold equivalent cut-off grade was derived from US$1,800/oz gold, US$24/oz silver, CAD:USD of 0.77, C$2.50/tonne mining cost, C$12.00/tonne milled processing costs, C$1.50/tonne G&A cost, and 90% and 80% gold and silver process recoveries, respectively.
BAM Project, Monarch Gold Zone Mineral Resource Estimate Cut-Off Grade Sensitivities
The Monarch MRE sensitivity table, Table 2 below, shows the potential for higher-grade Mineral Resources at higher gold equivalent cut-offs, which potential can be assessed during engineering studies.
Table 2: January 2023 BAM Project, Monarch Gold Zone Pit Constrained Inferred Mineral Resource Estimate Cut-Off Grade Sensitivities (1 - 2)
Cut-Off
Gold Eq.
(g/t)
Tonnes
(M)
Gold
Grade
(g/t)
Silver
Grade
(g/t)
Gold
(M oz)
Silver
(M oz)
Gold Eq.
Grade
(g/t)
Gold Eq.
(M oz)
0.6
10.2
0.97
3.04
0.32
0.99
1.00
0.33
0.4
18.0
0.75
2.82
0.43
1.63
0.78
0.45
0.2
27.2
0.59
2.52
0.52
2.21
0.62
0.55
Refer to the footnotes to the Mineral Resource Estimate in Table 1.
The Mineral Resource Estimate cut-off grade sensitivities in Table 2 are a subset of the Mineral Resource Estimate in Table 1.
January 2023 Technical Report
View and download the Technical Report and Initial Mineral Resource Estimate of the BAM Gold-Copper Project dated January 24, 2023 here.
Exploration – discovery of Monarch Gold Zone
P2 optioned BAM in July 2020 and in August 2020 completed a soil geochemical sampling program that defined the Monarch Gold Zone near the north end of the grid in an area that had never been drilled in the past. Based on the soil sampling, the Monarch Gold Zone measures 1,100 meters by 600 meters and covers a hornfelsed calcareous sediment in contact with a granitic batholith. The zone is defined by numerous samples with greater than 25 ppb (0.025 g/t) gold, of which 16 samples assay greater than 500 ppb (0.50 g/t) gold with the highest sample assaying 5,730 ppb (5.73 g/t gold). The zone also hosts highly anomalous values in arsenic, antimony, copper, mercury and tellurium that, in combination with the size and location of the anomaly, are indicative of a robust epithermal system.
The soil geochemical sampling program consisted of approximately 60-line kilometers of survey lines covering an area measuring 4.8 kilometers by 2.0 kilometers. The main survey lines were spaced at 200-meter centers running east-west, with shorter infill survey lines spaced at 100-meter centers locally covering areas with historical anomalies. Soil samples were collected every 50 meters along each of the survey lines. Approximately 1,100 samples were collected and assayed.
In 2021, P2 completed an 835.9 meter, six-hole drill program at BAM, drilling four holes at the Monarch Gold Zone and two holes at the historical Jan Copper Zone. All four holes drilled in the Monarch Gold Zone intersected gold, with both holes at the Jan Copper Zone intersecting copper.
The 2022 BAM drill program (13,958 meters drilled in 95 holes) and geological mapping defined multiple structural trends which converge at the Monarch Gold Zone and were active either during and/or after the mineralization event. Gold grades intersected by the drilling generally increase towards these structures, suggesting they are potentially related to a feeder system. Drill holes in the latter half of the program also showed that the conglomerate along the eastern edge of the Monarch Gold Zone is well-mineralized for over one kilometer. The conglomerate lies along the contact with the More Creek Granite suggesting that the contact may be part of the feeder system for the gold mineralization.
A plan map and sections for 2022 BAM drill results can be found here.
BAM Project - Plan view of the Monarch Gold Zone (January 2023)
The initial Mineral Resource Estimate for the Monarch Gold Zone comprises 520,000 ounces of gold in an Inferred Mineral Resource at a grade of 0.59 g/t (see Tables 1 and 2 above). The pit-constrained Mineral Resource Estimate starts at surface and continues to a depth of 190 metres over a strike length of 1,250 metres, with the Monarch Gold Zone open to expansion by drilling to the northeast and southwest.
In June and July of 2023, two holes drilled a total of 912 meters to test potential feeder zones and a porphyry system target at depth. The holes did not intersect significant mineralization; however, age dating of drill core has determined that the Jan Copper Zone mineralization is likely related to intrusives dating 321 million years while the Monarch Gold Zone is hosted in Late Triassic rocks and must be younger than 220 million years old. Accordingly, additional geological work is required to determine the sources of these two mineralized zones which will include further exploration of the recently acquired Ball Creek property located immediately north of the original BAM property.
Historical exploration
The BAM Project was discovered in the 1960s when regional exploration that was focused on copper mineralization resulted in the discovery of the Galore Creek deposit, approximately 35 kilometers to the west, and the Schaft Creek deposit, approximately 20 kilometers to the northwest; both deposits are large copper-gold porphyry mineralizing systems. On the BAM Project, drilling in 1967 outlined an area of copper mineralization with minor silver, identified as the Jan Copper Zone, in a replacement zone hosted by brecciated Lower Permian limestone and dolomite to the south of P2’s newly discovered Monarch Gold Zone.
More recent exploration efforts on the BAM Project have focused on gold. This work started in the mid-1980s when Chevron Canada Resources Limited collected channel samples from trenches that returned up to 7.4 grams per tonne gold over 19.3 meters to the south of the Jan Copper Zone. Sporadic exploration work has been completed on the project since that time. P2 believes these historical results provide an indication of the potential of the BAM Project and are relevant to planned exploration.
Quality Assurance
Ken McNaughton, M.A.Sc., P.Eng., Chief Exploration Officer, P2 Gold, is the Qualified Person responsible for the BAM Project exploration programs and has reviewed, verified and approved the above scientific and technical information.
Option terms
The acquisition is structured as a two-phase option to acquire a 100% interest in the BAM Property. The initial option is for a 70% interest in the property. On exercise of the initial option, the Company will have the right to acquire the remaining 30% interest, for a 100% total interest, or remain at 70% and enter into a joint venture with the vendor.
The terms of the initial option, for a 70% interest in the property, are as follows:
Year
Cash
Commons Shares
Work Commitment
Signing
$60,000
200,000
-
June 29, 2021
$150,000
200,000
$150,000
June 29, 2022
$200,000
200,000
$250,000
June 29, 2023
-
800,000
$350,000
September 30, 2023
$200,000
-
-
June 29, 2024
$550,000
200,000
-
Total
1,160,000
1,600,000
$750,000
Following exercise of the option, the Company has the right for a period of 120 days to acquire the remaining 30% interest in the BAM Property, for a 100% total interest, on payment of $7.5 million of which up to $4 million may be paid in shares of the Company at its election. If the Company elects to not purchase the remaining 30% interest, the Company and the vendor shall form a joint venture, with the Company appointed the operator. During the first three years of the joint venture, the Company will fund the vendor’s participating interest in the joint venture. If the vendor fails to sell its interest in the joint venture during such three-year period, the vendor’s interest will convert to a 2% net smelter returns royalty (the “nsr”), provided that the Company will have the opportunity to purchase the vendor’s interest prior to such conversion for $7.5 million. Following the conversion of the vendor’s interest to a 2% nsr, the Company may purchase 1% of the nsr for $2,000,000 (inflation adjusted from 2020). The vendor has also agreed to assign to the Company two claims that form part of the BAM Property for $40,000 and a 2% nsr, 100% of which can be purchased by the Company for $1,125,000 prior to commercial production on such claims and 1% of which can be purchased for $300,000 (inflation adjusted from 2020) after commercial production is achieved on such claims.
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P2 Gold Inc
Suite 1100 - 355 Burrard Street
Vancouver, BC
Canada V6C 2G8 [email protected]