Bass Project Location
Central area showing basalt cover
Drone imagery of central area over topographical high
2022 rock grab sample of breccia in basalt cover
Bass Copper-Gold Porphyry
Project
(available for option)
Executive Summary
The Bass Property is located within the Nechako Plains physiographic region of the Interior Plateau approximately 23 kilometres northwest of Fort St James, BC. Local First Nations Nation traditional territories include the Nak'azdli Band and the Binche Whut'en (list is preliminary based on current government information and is not conclusive). The claim is comprised of one mineral tenure 100% owned by Diana Benz and totals approximately 300 hectares of land within the NTS map sheet 093J/12. The Property is within an area of moderate to gentle relief west of the Ocock River. This region experiences typical central British Columbia weather with cold, snowy winters and cool to warm summers. Mineral exploration may be conducted on a year-round basis, although at higher elevations, the season may be dependent on the snowpack levels and/or stability.
Historical work within the current Bass Property includes regional airborne magnetic and electromagnetic geophysical surveys, a geophysical re-interpretation, and a mobile metal ion geochemical survey. In general, the project area sits on a VTEM conductive anomaly within a moderate gravity zone. Interpretation of the geophysical data by Mitchinson et al. (2022), through the Geoscience BC Central Interior Copper-Gold Project, showed the Bass Project, also known as the target FSJ8, is a low-density magnetic target thought to be syenite or monzonite.
The Bass Property is located within the Quesnel Trough of the Intermontane Tectonic Belt. The main lithological unit regionally mapped within this area as Chilcotin Plateau Basalt volcanic rocks - an extensive but thin mantle of basalt flows. The geophysical signatures within the Project area may be consistent with a copper-gold (+platinum) porphyry deposit similar to the Mount Milligan Mine approximately 50 km north of the project area, although more information is required to develop a deposit model.
The 2022 program consisted of lineament mapping, drone imagery, and a field program to collect vegetation and rock samples as well as to determine the value of a soil sampling grid. Samples were collected within predefined areas derived from lineament mapping and the historical mobile metal ion survey. Vegetation sampling revealed numerous areas of interest based on gold, silver, caesium, copper, arsenic, tellurium, molybdenum and platinum.
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Bass Project location
Location & Access
The Bass Property is located within the Omineca Mining Division of east-central British Columbia (BC) approximately 23 kilometres northwest of the district municipality of Fort St James, 100 kilometres southeast of the district municipality of Mackenzie, 110 kilometres northwest of the city of Prince George, and 600 km north of Vancouver. Local First Nation traditional territories include the Nak'azdli Band and the Binche Whut'en (this list is preliminary based on current government information and is not conclusive). Nearby infrastructure includes a major BC Hydro 69 KV power line that runs approximately 10 kilometres west of the Property along Pinchi Lake to Fort St James with BC Hydro Substations within Fort St James. Railway lines are located approximately 8 kilometres south with access between Prince George and Fort St James. The Kitimat Deep Water Port Railway Connection is located 315 km west and the Prince Rupert Deep Water Port Railway Connection is 415 km west.
The Bass Property is accessible via resource roads from the district municipality of Fort St James. Directions to the Property are as follows: from Prince George, head west approximately 106 km along Yellowhead Highway West/Highway 16 to Vanderhoof. Turn right onto the Stuart Lake Highway BC-27 North and follow the road for approximately 53.6 kilometres. Turn left onto Stuart Drive West/Stuart Lake Highway/BC-27 and continue for 7.5 kilometres. Continue on N Road for 2.7 kilometres and turn right onto Teardrop Road. Follow the Teardrop Road for approximately 11 kilometres and turn left onto the Teardrop-Carrier Forest Service Road. At approximately 21.7 kilometres is a turn to the left onto the Ocock West Forest Service Road. Follow the Ocock West Forest Service Road for approximately 6.5 kilometres and turn left onto 044043 Forest Service Road. At approximately 2 kilometres follow the main road to the left. Follow this road for 1.9 kilometres to access the centre of the Property.
Bass Project tenure
Bass Project aerial magnetic survey of 'sickle'-shaped (northern portion of doughnut) magnetic anomaly
Property Status & History
The Bass Property is comprised of one mineral tenure covering approximately 300 hectares of land within the 093J/12 NTS map sheet. The Property is located between WGS84 latitudes 54.595° and 54.570° North and longitudes 123.976° and 123.951° West. The centre of the claim block is located at 54.582° North and -123.966° West.
All of the tenures are 100%-owned with good-to-dates to July 01, 2027.
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The Bass Project lies within the underexplored Quesnellia (terrane) of central British Columbia, also known as Geoscience BC’s QUEST (2007-2010) project area and their more recent Central Interior Copper-Gold Research: Surficial Exploration Project (2018-2022).
In 1991, a reconnaissance project, which followed up on magnetic anomalies with selective biogeochemical sampling, was conducted by Placer Dome Inc. over a large area including the current Bass claims (Goodall and Fox, 1992). The Bass claim is part of a large regional magnetic high with high-contrast magnetic contours trending in a north-south direction. They targeted magnetic contours greater than 4500 gamma and no targets were chosen on the current Bass Claim.
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In 2008, Rimfire Minerals conducted an aeromagnetic survey over several claims in central BC. One claim, Bass, coincides with the current Bass Project and revealed a sickle-shaped, steep-sided, high-amplitude magnetic high anomaly. Field examination of the anomaly was mapped as young Chilcotin basalt units.
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In 2009, Xstrata Canada conducted Mobile Metal Ion (MMI) surveys over 7 properties within central BC. A total of 1824 samples were collected over selective aeromagnetic features identified in the region. A total of 52 MMI soil samples were taken along two survey lines along the current northeast boundary of the current Bass claims. No geochemical anomalies were noted, however, Fischer (2020) noted that basaltic flows can be impermeable to ion migration resulting in little to no soil anomalies where expected at the Mount Polley Cu Porphyry Mine. Further work was suggested on the west-central part of the Property.
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This region continues to rely on active logging and has a long history of mineral exploration. The Bass Project area has recently been logged and re-planted within the past 10 years based on the age of the natural regrowth.
One open pit, copper-gold mine is located approximately 50 kilometres north of the Bass Project. This porphyry mine is called Mount Milligan and is currently owned by Thompson Creek Metals Company Inc., an indirect subsidiary of Centerra Gold Inc. Commercial production at Mount Milligan was achieved in 2014 with 736,000,000 pounds of copper in proven and probable reserves as well as 1,838,000,000 ounces of gold in proven and probable reserves (Fitzgerald et al., 2020).
New Gold Inc and IAMGOLD Corporation hold moderate-sized claims between approximately 10 and 25 kilometres from the current Bass claim but no significant mineralization has been reported on those Properties and these projects are not listed on their websites.
Bass Project Terrane
Bass Project Property Geology
Geology
The Bass Property lies within the Intermontane Tectonic Belt. The Intermontane Belt is a partly collisional tectonic belt comprised of a series of accreted terranes. The largest of these terranes is Stikinia, which underlies a large portion of central-west British Columbia. The 2nd largest is the Quesnellia which underlies the south and central portions of British Columbia. The Bass Project is located within Quesnellia.
Quesnellia is a Late Palaeozoic chain of volcanic activity (i.e., arc) that formed above a subducting tectonic plate (Logan et al., 2011). Supracrustal rocks primarily consist of Upper Triassic volcanic to volcaniclastic rocks. Secondary constituents of the Quesnellia include Nicola and Takla Groups of shoshonitic and pyroxene-phyric basalts as well as minor phyllite. Late Triassic to Early Jurassic calc-alkaline and alkaline intrusions commonly occur within this terrane.
The Bass Property is regionally mapped in the Quesnellia as Chilcotin Group basaltic volcanic rocks. These young volcanic rocks consist of flat-lying, vesicular, columnar jointed olivine basalt; xenoliths of dunite and leucogneiss in easternmost exposures derived from the North American basement and mantle (after Cui, et al., 2017).
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Preliminary mapping in the July of 2022 revealed that the northern Bass Project area is primarily underlain by Cenozoic Chilcotin Group basaltic volcanic rocks. These young volcanic rocks were found to be consistent with the regional description of flat-lying, vesicular, columnar jointed olivine basalt with xenoliths of dunite and leucogneiss possible related to the easternmost exposures derived from North American basement and mantle (after Cui, et al., 2017). Till thickness varied from exposed basalt to primarily a thin layer and up to greater than 1 metre thick.
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Bass Project Gold-in-Pine-Needles
Bass Project Copper-in-Pine-Needles
Bass Project Titanium-in-Pine-Needles
Results
Situated in BC, Canada, the Bass Project was found via statistical analyses of regional geochemical and geophysical data. These analyses unearthed anomalies exceeding 10 km, with one target area revealing a donut-shaped magnetic feature and the hidden potential for copper.
The Bass Project, of BC Canada, is dominated by a donut-shaped geophysical feature similar to local Copper Porphyry Deposits. Recent surveys uncovered high-contrast copper- and gold-in-twig occurrences, hinting at the hidden potential beneath basalt cover (Benz, 2023).
Reconnaissance work in 2022 revealed zones of copper, gold, silver and molybdenum enrichment as well as high contrast anomalies for arsenic, caesium, platinum, thorium and tellurium.
Of particular interest are the titanium values and their spatial relationship to the aerial magnetic results where the titanium highs and lows seem to be spatially associated with the magnetic highs and lows.
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