Trailbreaker Resources Ltd. announced the acquisition of the Connector Gold property in the Merritt area of British Columbia (BC). The newly-staked claims are situated 500 m north of the past-producing Brenda Cu–Mo (copper-molybdenum) mine.
Location. Image Credit: Trailbreaker Resources Ltd.
Highlights of the New Connector Gold Property
- The property straddles Highway 97C (the Okanagan Connector) and is located 40 km north of Kelowna and 55 km southeast of Merritt, British Columbia
- Numerous well-maintained forest service roads that branch off the highway provide excellent road access
- Covers 1,894 hectares of land just 500 m north of the past-producing Brenda Cu–Mo mine
- 15 km northeast of the producing Elk Gold mine, held by Gold Mountain Mining, which has a Measured and Indicated (M + I) resource of 806,000 oz AuEq (gold equivalent), at a grade of 5.8 g/t Au (gold)
- It is wholly owned by Trailbreaker Resources and there are no underlying payments or royalties
- Only a limited amount of historic gold-targeted drilling has been done on the property
- Historic exploration at the Connector Gold property revealed a similar style of gold mineralization and geologic setting to the Elk deposit, with grab samples grading up to 187.5 g/t Au and 71.8 g/t Ag (silver)
About the Connector Gold property
In south-central British Columbia, the 1,894 ha Connector Gold property straddles Highway 97C, 40 km west of Kelowna and 55 km southeast of Merritt. The property is adjacent to Glencore Corp’s Brenda property, which is home to the Cu–Mo porphyry Brenda Mine. The mine is situated 500 m to the south of Trailbreaker’s claims.
From the early 1960s to the 1990s, when the Brenda deposit was found and established into a producing mine, the Connector Gold property was actively explored for Cu–Mo deposits.
Many Cu–Mo soil geochemical anomalies were discovered at the Connector, and many drill holes encountered substantial Cu–Mo porphyry mineralization. Search for precious metals, on the other hand, was widely overlooked until 2008, when precious metal prices began to rise.
During a trenching program targeting gold-in-soil anomalies in 2009, Bitterroot Resources found a high-grade gold-bearing vein system only 300 m from the highway. Over a 900 m span, multiple narrow gold-bearing shear zones and quartz veins were intersected, with bedrock grab samples yielding up to 187.5 g/t Au and 71.8 g/t Ag.
Over 0.25 m, numerous significant channel sample intercepts were discovered, including 39 g/t Au and 6.3 g/t Ag. A six-hole drill campaign was launched in 2018 to test a fraction of the gold-bearing quartz vein system exposed by trenching.
While there were no significant high-grade gold intercepts found, anomalous gold values were found in every hole. Since 2018, there has been no exploration on the property, leaving other several gold-in-soil anomalies untested by drilling.
The geological setting and gold mineralization style are highly related to the Elk Gold mine, which is 15 km to the southwest (806,000 oz AuEq, M + I resource). The Elk deposit, like the Connector Gold property, contains high-grade gold and silver in narrow quartz veins cutting Jurassic intrusive rocks relatively close to Triassic Nicola volcanic rocks.
This recent high-grade gold finding at the Connector Gold property, according to Trailbreaker’s team, has been overlooked and has the potency to host high-grade gold mineralization equivalent to the nearby Elk Gold deposit. Gold Mountain Mining continues to expand its resource base at the Elk Gold mine, with a 32% increase in the total resource base reported in late 2021.
Message from the President
I am pleased to add another exciting asset to our portfolio. As with our recent Eakin Creek acquisition, the Trailbreaker team has generated a target in a highly prospective geological setting with excellent access and infrastructure.
Daithi Mac Gearailt, President and Chief Executive Officer, Trailbreaker Resources Ltd.
Daithi Mac Gearailt adds, “The Connector Gold and Eakin Creek projects’ locations also allow for an expanded exploration season. I anticipate a steady news flow as the Trailbreaker team investigates the historic showings and intensively explores the property. As always, stay tuned for further updates!”