Buchans Minerals Corporation (BMC-TSX-V) is a Canadian exploration company focused on developing its base metal properties and deposits in and around the famous Buchans mining camp in central Newfoundland. The Buchans mine was one of Canada’s richest base metal mines which produced 16.2 million tonnes between 1928 and 1984 grading 14.51% zinc, 1.33% copper, 7.56% lead, 126 g/t silver and 1.37g/t gold. Buchans Minerals has three main properties in and around the Buchans area that contain numerous exploration prospects and NI-43-101 compliant resources that are being evaluated for their viability to become operating mines. These properties are the 100% owned Buchans property (which contains the Lundberg deposit), the 100% owned Tulks North property (which contains the Daniels Pond deposit) and the 50% joint ventured Long Range property.
DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS
Buchans Minerals Corporation currently has two NI-43-101 compliant base metal deposits in and around Buchans, the Lundberg deposit located at the heart of the old Buchans mine and the Daniels Pond deposit located on the other side of the Red Indian Lake from Buchans (about 90km by road). Buchans Minerals believes the Lundberg resource has potential to become an operating open pit mine and is currently seeking a joint venture partner to continue its evaluation and development. As part of the ongoing evaluation of the Lundberg deposit, the Daniels Pond deposit will be evaluated as a satellite mine that will contribute its ore to the Lundberg milling facility.
Lundberg Deposit
In 2008, Buchans Minerals researched archive files from the former Buchans Mine, successfully identifying a zone of base metal stockwork mineralization peripheral to the former Lucky Strike mine and underlying portions of the former mine infrastructure just outside the current town of Buchans. This mineralization was subsequently named the Lundberg and Engine House zones and was the subject of a drill program that resulted in an NI-43-101 compliant Inferred resource (using a 1% combined Zn+Pb+Cu threshold) of 20.7 million tonnes with a combined Zn+ Pb+ Cu grade of 2.78%. (news release of November 7, 2008).
Daniels Pond Deposit
Daniels Pond is a volcanogenic massive sulphide deposit that is smaller than Lundberg, but also higher grade and located close enough to Buchans to potentially contribute ore as a satellite mine to a possible Lundberg milling facility in Buchans. Located on the Tulks North property across the Red Indian Lake from Buchans, Daniels Pond has an NI-43-101 compliant Indicated Resource at a 1.5% Zn cut-off of 1.16 million tonnes grading 4.44% zinc, 2.12% lead, 0.31% copper, 87.79 g/t silver and 0.60 g/t gold, as well as an additional Inferred resource totaling 0.45 million tonnes grading 3.88% Zn, 1.74% Pb, 0.27% Cu, 81.63 g/t Ag and 0.52 g/t Au (news release dated March 13, 2008). The bulk of these resources occur within 150 metres of surface in two lobes of mineralization, the majority of which may be minable by open pit.
EXPLORATION PROJECTS
Buchans Minerals has a number of exploration prospects that are a mix of more developed and early exploration prospects. Within the Buchans property there are a number of prospects of merit that include two of particular note, Clementine West and Buchans North. Both of these prospects have produced evidence that indicates they may be part of or in close proximity to very high grade Buchans style mineralization and will be part of an effort to attract joint venture partners to further their development. In addition, Buchans Minerals is contributing to a 50/50 joint venture with Benton Resources to explore the Long Range property which can best be described as a “Blue Sky” project. A project that is exploring virgin ground for Voisey Bay style nickel mineralization and has produced very promising early results. The Tulks North property, which hosts the Daniels Pond deposit, is considered under-explored and considering its location within the midst of a number of VMS deposits (Bobby’s Pond, Boomerang, Hurricane, Duck Pond, Tulks North) is considered highly prospective ground for discovering further VMS base metal deposits.
Clementine West
Located within the 100% owned Buchans property, the Clementine West prospect has stringer–stockwork mineralization intersections of up to 121 metres that are believed to be similar to that observed around the former high-grade massive sulphide Lucky Strike mine, where historic mining by Asarco produced 5.6 million tonnes averaging 18.4% zinc, 8.6% lead, 1.6% copper, 112 g/t silver and 1.7 g/t gold. Results obtained from drilling completed by Buchans Minerals in 2008 and 2010 suggest proximal accumulations of high-grade massive sulphides such as that of Lucky Strike and given this similarity and the fact that the prospect is under-explored along its 1.5 km length and zero exploration below 200 metres, certainly warrants further exploration.
Buchans North
The 100% owned Buchans North prospect, also located within the Buchans property, was discovered by previous mine operators, Asarco, in the early 1950s, approximately 500 metres northwest of the former Oriental Mine, where Asarco, mined 3.3 million tonnes averaging 14.18% Zn, 7.90% lead, 1.47% copper, 154.0 g/t silver and 1.96 g/t gold between 1935 and 1983. The prospect was last drilled in 1967, and occurs approximately 290 metres below surface within a less explored, faulted repeat of the same horizon that hosts the Oriental mine. Interpretation of previous drilling suggests the Buchans North horizon may still be open in several directions and further exploration may track mineralization into less explored areas where additional deposits similar to Oriental could be discovered. Buchans Minerals completed a two-hole diamond drill program in early 2010 that was designed to assess for possible extensions into areas where large accumulations of high-grade massive sulphides may be discovered. The first hole, H-3415, intersected massive sulphides assaying 15.50% copper, 1.85% lead, 5.80% zinc, 214.8 g/t silver and 2.92 g/t goldover 0.30 metres, whilst the second hole, H-3416, intersected massive sulphides averaging1, 5.52% zinc, 7.61% lead, 0.92% copper, 148.9 g/t silver and 1.15 g/t gold over 2.1 metres. Buchans Minerals considers these results to be very positive as they suggest mineralization extends beyond previously interpreted limits and occurs within a discrete mineralized horizon that remains poorly tested by previous drilling.
Long Range
Long Range property, located 64 kilometres to the southwest of Buchans, covers 381,500 hectares (381.5 km) and is held as a 50/50 joint venture between Buchans Minerals and Benton Resources, with Buchans Minerals as the operator. The exploration philosophy at Long Range is centered around the potential for the discovery of a magmatic nickel sulphide deposit broadly analogous to Vale Inco’s Voisey’s Bay mine in Labrador and Kennecott’s Eagle deposit currently being developed in northern Michigan.
An airborne geophysical survey flown over the initial property in 2008 detected a number of anomalies in prospective gabbro. Follow up work ultimately resulted in the discovery of the Portage Nickel prospect within gabbro returning assays up to 2.70% nickel, 0.58% copper, and 0.24% cobalt in trenched bedrock grab samples. An initial four-hole shallow drilling program tested the prospect, returning assays of up to 1.36% nickel, 0.36% copper, and 0.039% cobalt over a 1 metre core length.
In addition, follow up work also resulted in the discovery of a new copper mineralized zone outside of the known gabbro where a two hole drill program testing a strong airborne geophysical anomaly returned a 37.80 metre intercept of banded, semi-massive to massive sulphides averaging 0.39% copper and 0.032% cobalt over an estimated true width of 29.11 metres. A follow-up program is currently in progress.
Tulks North
The 100% owned Tulks North property covers 16,075 hectares (approximately 32 km x 5 km) and is located within the Victoria Lake mining camp across the Red Indian Lake from Buchans in central Newfoundland. The property is considered highly prospective, being located within the northern half of the Tulks Volcanic belt, the same belt of rocks that host Messina Minerals’ Boomerang, Hurricane and Tulks East base metal deposits, as well as the Tulks Hill deposit jointly owned by Buchans Minerals (49%) and joint venture partner, Prominex Resources (51%). The Corporation’s Daniels Pond deposit is also located on the Tulks North property and less than 10 kilometres southwest of Mountain Lake’s Bobbys Pond base metal deposit and less than 30 kilometres west of Teck Resources operating Duck Pond mine. In addition to the Daniels Pond deposit, the property is host to a number of prospective targets which have been identified and evaluated through only limited exploration programs completed to date. These include the Parking Lot Showing, Daniel’s Pond Extension, Roebuck Alteration Zone, Tim’s Creek Area, Bobby’s Pond Alteration Zone, Bobby’s Pond South, Jack’s Pond Alteration Zone, Black Jack Prospect and Sutherland’s Pond Alteration Zone. The Jack’s Pond Alteration Zone is potentially the largest known alteration zone in the region outside the former Buchans Mines. Buchans Minerals has now completed a full digital compilation of all historical work completed on the entire property and considering the number of VMS base metal deposits within the area and the extensive number of untested exploration targets and under-explored ground, Tulks North may be considered for future joint venture.