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File Created: 08-May-2009 by George Owsiacki (GO)
Last Edit:  22-Mar-2026 by Del Ferguson (DF)

Summary Help Help

NMI
Name HEPBURN LAKE, SPANISH MOUNTAIN Mining Division Cariboo
BCGS Map 093A063
Status Prospect NTS Map 093A11W
Latitude 052º 36' 22'' UTM 10 (NAD 83)
Longitude 121º 29' 09'' Northing 5829543
Easting 602540
Commodities Gold Deposit Types I01 : Au-quartz veins
Tectonic Belt Intermontane Terrane Quesnel, Kootenay
Capsule Geology

The HEPBURN LAKE prospect is located 650 metres southeast of Hepburn Lake, 3 kilometres north of Spanish Lake and 4 kilometres east of the village of Likely.

Regionally, the area lies within the Quesnel Trough and is underlain by Upper Triassic metasedimentary rocks with some intercalated volcanics of the basal part of the Nicola Group. This sequence is overlain to the west by alkali basalt and alkali olivine basalt. The metasedimentary rocks consist of slaty to phyllitic, dark grey to black shale and siltstone and dark brown to black-weathering grey limestone and, increasing in amount up section, banded tuff, volcanic breccia and local pillow lavas.

Locally, the area is underlain by mudstones with minor greywacke interbeds of the Middle-Upper Triassic Nicola Group in the eastern part of the property, while the more western sections are predominantly greywacke and tuffaceous siltstone. Drilling has intersected variable pyrite content in quartz veins and as disseminations, predominantly within the argillaceous and graphitic mudstones, with 10 per cent pyrite common. Dikes and minor intrusions of diorite and rhyolite porphyry have been noted. Bedrock is covered by a variable thickness of glacial materials, including compact till up to 50 metres and glaciofluvial sand and gravel of 3 to 10 metres thickness.

In 2006, a diamond drill hole (06SPM-15) returned three intersections of greater than 0.5 gram per tonne gold including 2.54 grams per tonne over 1.51 metres and 2.29 grams per tonne over 1.52 metres (Assessment Report 29099). In 2007, the highest gold value of 2.42 grams per tonne gold over 1.5 metres was returned from a sample taken from 279 to 280.5 metres depth in hole 07SpM-01 (Assessment Report 30125). Drill hole SpM1007 returned the most significant intersection from the 2010 drill program. This hole intersected 1.140 grams per tonne gold over a 3.0 metre core length within a 15.70 metre wide zone that assayed 0.677 gram per tonne gold (Assessment Report 32148).

WORK HISTORY

Acrex Ventures Ltd. completed preliminary prospecting and soil sampling in 2005. A soil grid was established on the Hepburn Lake Group, and a total of 323 soil samples were obtained. Acrex completed a program of infill soil sampling, trenching and diamond drilling within the Hepburn Lake group in 2006. A total of 6 excavator trenches and 15 diamond-drill holes (2214.7 metres) were completed. Diamond drilling was designed to test areas of elevated gold-in-soil, and where surface outcrops indicated argillaceous bedrock, the potential hostrocks for gold mineralization. In 2007, Acrex continued infill and extending of the soil geochemical sampling grids and completed a total of 1943.4 metres of diamond drilling in 11 drill holes on the property.

In 2010, Acrex completed a program of infill and extension soil sampling, trenching, and diamond drilling. Soils indicate strong gold values scattered throughout the grid, with general trending through the zone from southeast to northwest. None of the trenches were successful at reaching bedrock. A total of 861.9 metres of diamond drilling in 7 drill holes were completed and indicate that the volcanic and sedimentary rocks tested by drilling along the target trend contain areas of significant gold concentration.

The area has been explored in conjunction with the nearby Spanish Mountain (MINFILE 093A 043) occurrence, and a full regional geology and work history summary can be found there.

Bibliography
EMPR ASS RPT 8636, 9762, 11428, 13306, 23843, 24390, 28120, *29099, *30125, *32148
EMPR BULL 97
EMPR OF 1987-9; 1989-14, 20; 1990-31; 2004-9
EMPR P 1990-3
GSC MAP 12-1959; 1424A; 1538G
GSC OF 574; 844; 4615; 4616; 4617
*Singh, B. (2008-02-11): Technical Report on the Spanish Mountain Property
Singh, B. (2008-03-27): Corrected Technical Report on the Spanish Mountain Property
Peatfield, G.R., Giroux, G.H. (2008-05-13): Resource Estimation Report on the Spanish Mountain Sediment-Hosted Vein Gold Deposit
Peatfield, G.R., Giroux, G.H. (2009-05-01): Updated Resource Estimation Report on the Spanish Mountain Gold Deposit
AGP Mining Consultants Inc. (2010-12-20): NI 43-101 Technical Report Preliminary Economic Assessment for the Spanish Mountain Project
Giroux, G.H., Koffyberg, A. (2014-04-25): Technical Report on an Updated Mineral Resource Estimate on the Spanish Mountain Gold Deposit

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