TSXV: SFR
VANCOUVER, Jan. 17 /CNW/ - Starfire Minerals Precious Metals Inc. a
division of Starfire Minerals Inc. holds the right to earn a 100% interest in
the Porphyry Pearl property pursuant to a letter of intent with Mr. Arne
Birkeland on the Porphyry Pearl property. The property, which is situated in
the Toodoggone mining district in northern British Columbia, consists of 5550
hectares between 6 and 14 kilometres north of Toodoggone River some
300 kilometres north of Smithers and 55 km northwest of the Kemess South Mine.
Terms of the option agreement include:
(1) The issuance of 400,000 common shares on regulatory approval and
800,000 shares on the anniversary of the signing of the
agreement for the subsequent 4 years (for a total of 3,600,000
shares);
(2) Cash payments of $15,000 on signing, $65,000 on August 15, 2006,
$50,000 on October 15, 2007, $150,000 on October 15, 2008, and
$250,000 on October 15, 2009 (for a total of $530,000 in cash
payments);
(3) Work commitments of $400,000 for year 1; $700,000 for year 2;
$1,100,000 for year 3; $1,100,000 for year 4 and $1,500,000 for
year 5 (for a total of $4,750,000 in work commitments); and
(4) A 3% Net Smelter Royalty (NSR) applies in favour of the vendor.
Starfire has been granted an option to buy out half of the NSR
for 3 million dollars.
This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval.
Past Exploration and Property Description
A 43-101 report was completed in 2004 for the property by Nick Carter, P.
Geo. and the summary is included below. Initial mineral claims covering the
area of the current Porphyry. The earliest record of work within the area of
the present property dates back to 1971 when Sumac Mines Ltd. (an exploration
entity of Sumitomo Metal Mining Company) located claims east of Moosehorn
Creek to cover anomalous base and precious metals values indicated by a
reconnaissance stream sediment geochemical survey. Work on what was known as
the Moose property through 1974 included grid construction, the preparation of
orthophoto base maps, soil geochemistry, Induced Polarization and magnetic
surveys and 493.5 metres of diamond drilling in four holes.
The Porphyry Pearl property, situated in Stikine Terrane of the northern
Intermontane tectonic belt, is underlain principally by Toodoggone Formation
volcanic rocks of the Early Jurassic Hazelton Group. These are intruded by
small, subvolcanic porphyry intrusions and by larger granitic intrusions, both
of which are coeval with the Early Jurassic volcanic rocks.
Previous exploratory work identified two distinct styles of precious and
base metals mineralization. The Porphyry Pearl zone in the southern property
area has received the most attention to date. Porphyry copper-gold
mineralization in this zone occurs as sulphide disseminations and fracture
fillings within an intensely altered, buried granitic intrusion that has
dimensions of at least 1100 x 800 metres. While previous diamond drilling
yielded generally low copper and gold values, it is significant that several
holes contained average gold values of 0.28 gram/tonne gold and 0.02% copper
over their entire lengths of 200 metres. These holes include intervals of 28
to 57 metres averaging +0.5 gram/tonne gold.
Epithermal vein and disseminated precious and base metal mineralization
has been recognized at several localities within the large property area. The
Moose silver-base metals zone in the central property area includes discrete
quartz-sulphide veins and breccia zones within a north-northwest-striking,
moderately southeast-dipping zone, which is some 300 metres long and up to
30 metres thick. Previous diamond drilling returned silver values of +100
grams/tonne over limited drill hole lengths. Other epithermal prospects in the
central property area include the Marmot gold-silver zone and an area of
anomalous gold and silver in soils northeast of the Moose zone, both have been
only partially investigated by past work. Epithermal gold-silver
mineralization, exposed in several localities in the eastern property area,
associated with fault zones of regional extent, also merits further
investigation.
Deposit Model
The deposit and mineralization model being proposed for the Porphyry
Pearl is that of the active Kemess Mine 55km to the southeast. The high local
grades of precious metal and extensive border phase mineralization support the
expectation that the Porphyry Pearl mineralized porphyry system has the
potential to host precious metal-rich, base metal mineralization, like the
Kemess South and Kemess North ore deposits. Kemess South open pit mine
operated by Northgate Minerals Corporation with remaining proven reserves
(December 31, 2003) of 91.7 million tonnes, averaging 0.57 g/t gold and 0.21%
copper, containing 2.06 million oz gold, and 459 million lbs copper (Northern
Miner Handbook, 2004-2005). The Kemess North deposit contains proven and
probable reserves of 414 million tonnes averaging 0.31 g/t gold and 0.16%
copper, containing 4.1 million oz gold and l.46 billion lbs of copper
(Northern Miner Handbook, 2004-2005). Success at the Kemess South operation
prompted Northgate's plans to advance the Kemess North deposit towards
production.
Past Producers
Production from the Toodoggone district began with the Baker Mine
operation in 1981 and continues with the current South Kemess mine of
Northgate Minerals Corporation. District production through 2004 amounts to
more than 1.6 million ounces gold, which has been derived from three past
producers and one current producer. As indicated on Table 1, more than 80% of
this production has been from the South Kemess mine.
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Table 1:
Recovered Grades
Tonnes Au Ag
Deposit Name Milled Au (kg) Ag (kg) Cu (t) (g/t) (g/t) Cu (%)
------------ ------ ------- ------- ------ ----- ----- ------
McClair Creek 3.3
Placer (1935)
Baker Mine 81878 1284 23813 13.1 15.68 290.84 0.02
(1981-83, 1996-97)
Lawyers (Cheni) 619869 5402 113184 N/A 8.71 182.59 N/A
(1989-1992)
Shasta Mine 113113 603 33019 N/A 5.33 291.91 N/A
(1989-91, 2000)
South Kemess 78471586 44968 4781(x) 165609 0.57 4.13(x) 0.21
-------- ----- ------- ------
(1998-present) 79286446 52260 173797 165622
(1,680,200 oz. Au; 6,130,498 oz. Ag)
(x) Ag recovered in 2000 only
2006 Exploration Program
The Porphyry Pearl property, particularly the Porphyry Pearl zone,
warrants additional exploratory work. A first phase program is recommended to
include a 3D Induced Polarization survey and geological mapping, prospecting
and sampling at an estimated cost of $392,920. A second phase of diamond
drilling, estimated to cost $553,150 would be contingent on the results
obtained from first phase work (Nick Carter, 2004).
Starfire Minerals Inc. includes a uranium, nickel and precious & base
metal divisions with properties in Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF
STARFIRE MINERALS INC.
"Freeman Smith"
---------------------------
Freeman Smith
Qualified Person who has reviewed this news release
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