Treasure Mountain Property

Our Treasure Mountain Silver Project is located within the New Westminster and Similkameen Mining Divisions in southern British Columbia, 29 kilometers northeast of Hope, BC, or a 3-hour drive from Vancouver, BC. View Map

The property comprises 31 mineral tenures, including 30 claims and 1 lease, covering an area of more than 2,200 hectares. It is accessible year-round by road from Hope or Princeton and hosts polymetallic veins, including the historical Treasure Mountain silver-lead-zinc mine. The project is situated within the Intermontane Belt, a unique tectonic zone in the northwest region of North America, home to many past and current producing mines of gold, silver, lead, zinc, and/or molybdenum. View Map

Since its incorporation in March 1980, the Company has engaged in the exploration and development of its wholly-owned group of mineral tenures located at Treasure Mountain in the Similkameen Mining Division, British Columbia. The Company discovered a silver-rich vein on the claims in 1985, exposed this vein over a length of 250 meters, and tested it through shallow drilling in the summer of 1986. Following these achievements, the Company went public in 1987, securing a listing on the TSX-V in August of that year.

Since 1989, activities at the Treasure Mountain Property have included four drilling programs, several geochemical soil surveys, a legal mineral tenure survey conducted by McElhanney, and various technical studies performed by AMEC Earth & Environmental. Between 1987 and 1989, the Company conducted exploration in the vein zone through four underground levels, comprising 9,000 feet of crosscuts, drifts, and raises, supplemented by 5,500 feet of underground drilling and 10,000 feet of surface drilling. Before undertaking the underground work, the Company shipped a bulk sample of 407 tons of select high-grade material from the surface vein showings to Cominco and Asarco smelters for testing. The smelters confirmed the compatibility of the shipments with their processing regimes and paid a total of $344,265 for the material.

Nicola Mining Inc. retains the option to reopen Level 1 to extract silver mill feed from Stope 2. However, due to the global downturn in silver prices, the company’s near-term strategy will emphasize the exploration of three highly prospective targets:

 

1. MB Zone located approximately 1.5km from the underground mine workings on the undrilled Northern backside of the mountain.

 

2. JV Vein/Eastern Zone located approximately 1.0 km from the underground mine workings.

 

3. Jensen Portal located approximately 100 m west of the Level 3 Portal and previously mined in the 1920’s.

View Exploration Results

On March 31, 2011, the Company submitted an application for a permit to approve its Small Mine Plan and Reclamation Program under Section 10 of the British Columbia Mines Act. This application aims for the development and operation of the Treasure Mountain Mine Project, allowing for mining of up to 60,000 tonnes a year.  View Map

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On June 7, 2012, the Company received a technical report titled ‘Technical Report, Project Update: Treasure Mountain Property, Tulameen River Area, B.C. Canada‘ (the ‘Report’), prepared by independent consultants and Qualified Persons: Erik Ostensoe, P. Geo; Erik A. Ostensoe, P. Geo; Gary H. Giroux, MASc., P. Eng.; and Jim Cuttle, P.Geo. The Report’s purpose is to provide an update on the work conducted at the Treasure Mountain Property since the filing of the Company’s last technical report in 2011. View the Technical Report.

Recent Exploration & Development

Since June 2011, exploration at Treasure Mountain has included 69 diamond drill holes spanning a total of approximately 7,000 meters, 671 surface soil geochemistry samples, surface and underground sampling on the upper two levels of the mine workings, a 10,000-tonne bulk sample, and a small exploration cut in the East Zone, located 8 km from the mine workings.

 

Of these, 51 diamond drill holes, covering a total length of 5,073 meters, targeted the main mine development with the aim of further defining resources within the upper 150 meters of the mine. Highlights from the drill program are presented in the following table:

 

 

The Company conducted a geochemical sampling program that collected 671 samples, targeting two primary areas: the MB Zone and the Camp Zone. The MB Zone, located approximately 800 meters northwest of the current Treasure Mountain mine workings, was sampled on the surface from an exposed area of fractured argillite in 2010. The assays from this zone reported values as high as 9,221g/t Ag, according to the August 25, 2010 press release. Meanwhile, the Camp Zone, identified through a geochemical testing program in 1996, features a significant soil anomaly below the Jensen Portal. This anomaly extends up to 1,000 meters from the existing mine workings, with sample silver (Ag) concentrations ranging from 0 grams per ton to over 100 grams per ton.

The following results were from surface chip samples taken from the D-vein:

Treasure Mountain Chip Samples

 

Soil Geochemistry Area Map

The D-vein initially uncovered 20 meters into the hanging wall of the open cut at the top of Treasure Mountain. This D-vein was then re-exposed through mechanical scaling. Eight samples spanning a total length of 107 meters were taken across the structure. However, the D-vein is currently excluded from the NI 43-101 resource estimate mentioned in the Report.

The Company has sampled all developed drifts and raises on the upper two levels of the underground mine. As of now, results have been received only for the Level 1 drift and raises, which extend 55 meters to the surface. The mine spans four levels over a vertical height of 295 meters, developed along the vein’s dip.

Sampling was conducted at 5-meter intervals throughout the drift and raises, with three samples (e.g., P1C1-1, P1C1-2, P1C1-3) representing each sample location at these intervals. Each sample location includes samples from the footwall rock, the vein, and the hanging wall rock.

  • Assays for footwall rock samples ranged from 0 g/tonne Ag to 3,380 g/tonne Ag (98.5 OZ/ton Ag), 3.96% Pb, 3.74% Zn, and 3.89% Mn across 1.9 meters.
  • Vein sample assays ranged from 0 g/tonne Ag to 5,097 g/tonne Ag (148.6 OZ/ton Ag), 36.76% Pb, 5.31% Zn, and 6.45% Mn over 0.6 meters.
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Underground stope mining began in November 2011 and, to date, has extended over a length of 75 meters, a height of 45 meters, and an average width of 1.5 meters. It is estimated that a total of 8,000 tonnes of material have been mined and stockpiled. The upcoming drawdown of the stope and removal of the crown pillar are expected to yield an additional 12,500 tonnes of material in the summer of 2012. The average grades of the 43 samples taken across the mined width to date are 911 g/tonne Ag, 5.62% Zn, 3.35% Mn, and 6.75% Pb. Currently, the stockpiled material has not been valued, as it requires further processing at the Company’s mill facility before shipment to a smelter for payment. There are no alternative processing options for the material before its shipment to a smelter.

Following the completion of the first stope’s mining, the haulage drift was extended to a total length of 275 meters, and the fourth raise was completed. A total of 7 raises, including the final mine ventilation raise, are planned to complete the development on Level 1 of the mine. The haulage drift is projected to reach approximately 300 meters in length.

On February 24, 2011, the Company announced the acquisition of 70.7 hectares of additional surface rights on the Treasure Mountain Property, securing all surface rights within its 7000-acre claim boundary. Two of the acquired lots, previously a wilderness camp and logged area, offer the most suitable location on the claim for constructing camp facilities.

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