The Zippa Mountain Wollastonite Property (a/k/a ISK Wollastonite, and ) covers 2,456
hectares (6,066 acres)
approximately 240 km northwest of the town of Smithers, BC and about 70 km northeast of Wrangell, Alaska. .
According to , six wollastonite deposits have been
discovered and evaluated in
the vicinity of Zippa
Mountain. These are the Bril, Cliff, Bartnick, Glacier, Brys, and Slimjaw deposits. The geological resource estimate for all
six wollastonite showings is 50 million tonnes.
The North Bay claims contain four of these deposits; the Cliff, Bartnick, Brys, and Slimjaw. Of these, the Cliff (so named
because it represents a 100 metre plus cliff of high-grade wollastonite) is considered the best, and is estimated to contain 2
million tonnes of open pittable, high aspect ratio ore grading 80% wollastonite. As well, a pre-feasibility study contained
in states that samples from all of the
deposits show high-grade wollastonite,
but it ranked the Cliff
and Bartnick deposits as the best targets, as both are amenable to low-cost surface mining. The pre-feasibility study, which
was completed prior to the adoption of NI 43-101 standards and is therefore considered a historical assessment,
concluded that:
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samples from one deposit - the Cliff - at ISK wollastonite indicates the existence of 75 to 80% pure wollastonite
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beneficiation trials show this can be concentrated and recovered by standard magnetic separation and flotation to give
96% wollastonite with a brightness of at least 87% IS0
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grinding trials have yielded acicular material of which 50% has an aspect ratio greater than 15:1
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there is an inferred two million raw tonnes of wollastonite above ground in the Cliff Deposit; two much larger deposits
have been identified which also indicate high grade raw material
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a production concept of simple bench mining, slurry pipeline transport of the crushed raw wollastonite to the tidal
Stikine River and then barging to a suitable port is proposed
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ISK wollastonite is insoluble in water, does not contain leachable metallics and incapable of causing acid rock drainage;
the immediate environment does not indicate sensitivities
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the above factors all combine to indicate ISK Wollastonite can meet all market specifications and offer the opportunity
for a profitable commercial operation and be confirmed in due course to be a world class deposit
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detailed work is now justified to establish the environmental and infrastructure baselines and continuity of wollastonite
quality in the deposits in anticipation of a bulk sampling programme as a prelude to application for a mining lease
Wollastonite is an industrial commodity, and is the only naturally occurring, non-metallic, white acicular mineral. Because of
its unique cleavage properties, wollastonite breaks down during crushing and grinding into lath-like or needle-shaped
particles of varying acicularity. This particle morphology imparts high-strength and is of considerable importance in many
markets and applications, ranging from plastics and ceramic tile to vehicle brake pads, bowling balls, car bumpers, thermal
insulation board, paints, and protective industrial coating. It is also used as a replacement for short-fibre milled
fiberglass and short-fibre asbestos. The combination of high brightness and low gas release when heated creates a major demand
in the ceramics industry, and the brilliant whiteness is of major importance to its use in the coatings industry and filler
markets.
Market prices for domestically produced acicular wollastonite range from $205 to $1,984 per metric ton (Source: ). The key variable is the grade, with the highest
grade wollastonite used in the plastics and ceramics industries commanding the highest prices. To put this in perspective,
the intrinsic value of the Company�s Cliff deposit alone, which by itself is estimated to contain 2 million tonnes of raw
high-grade wollastonite, is the virtual equivalent of between 300,000 and 3,000,000 ounces of gold at current market prices.
The reference to gold by inference is not without basis. It should be noted that the northern slope as well as the western
portions of the Zippa Mountain Property near the Bartnick deposit have previously been intermittently explored for gold
(Source: ). This is an area where glaciers have
been continually receding and
exposing new outcrops
each year, creating the potential for new discoveries as more outcrops become exposed. Zippa Mountain is approximately 7
miles due west of Barrick�s Snip gold mine (), which produced over 1 million ounces of
gold and 4 million
ounces of silver between 1991 and 1999. Less than one mile east of the Snip Mine is the current Bronson Slope project
(). In 2008 Skyline Gold released a NI
43-101 compliant report with resource estimates
of 225.1 million
tonnes containing 2.6 million ounces of gold, 16 million ounces of silver, 38 million pounds of molybdenum, and 695 million
pounds of copper. Given the close proximity of the Zippa Mountain property to these gold producing areas, a new discovery
of gold around Zippa Mountain is within the realm of possibility once wollastonite extraction operations commence and further
exploration programs are expanded.