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Follow on Google News | Astral Achieves Astronomical Results at Jumping Josephine in Southeastern BCAstral Mining Corp.’s (TSX.V:AST) management may well have exceeded its target. Both management and investors are likely over the moon given that the company, along with joint venture partner Kootenay Gold, announced some stellar results.
By: ResourceX The property consists of 24 contiguous claims acquired by Kootenay and seven Crown-granted claims optioned to Kootenay. The 11,785 hectare project hosts the historical Granville Mountain mining camp – a mining district which has produced over 9 million ounces of high-grade Au, as well as several newly-discovered vein hosted, shear-related gold showings. Infrastructure support is excellent, as the property is located 40 km north of Teck Cominco’s smelter at Trail and 30 km west of Castlegar. The property’s proximity to Rossland and Trail (both historic mining towns) provides easy access to a local skilled labor force. The added bonus of favourable weather conditions and major highway access allows for year-round drilling at JJ. Previous interest in JJ focused mainly on the formerly producing Granville Mountain camp. Until 1940, gold, silver, copper, lead and zinc were mined from several workings in the area. After World War II, there was little activity in the area, save for limited production from Albion. The area was explored sporadically from the late 1960s until the early 1990s. Kootenay acquired the property in 2003. Since May 2006, Astral has broadened its exploration scope beyond JJ’s Main zone, and has started evaluating the new gold showings discovered by Kootenay. Prior to drilling, Astral conducted a property-wide airborne geophysical survey, soil sampling over three areas, further property-wide prospecting, as well as further grab sampling and trenching for some 775 m at the JJ Main showing. The company has just wrapped up Phase II of drilling, having completed 38 drill holes totaling 5,100.84 m. This year’s drill results are currently undergoing detailed interpretation as management lays the groundwork for Phase III of drilling in 2008. Assay results have yet to arrive on the remaining 18 holes. The company’s 43-101 report was co-written by Dale Brittliffe and Dr. David Terry, Astral’s vice-president of exploration. They describe a geological setting in which “gold mineralization at JJ is predominantly within auriferous quartz veins, shears and stockworks hosted by mid-Jurassic intrusives or older Mount Roberts Formation rocks….quartz veins can have very high gold grades (Kootenay grab sample BZT-09 up to 558g/t Au). Samples from JJ Main return gold values up to 133.91g/t Au and show a general Pb-Ag-Sb-As (lead-silver- The report further recommends JJ as “a high quality gold exploration property with the potential to host an economic gold deposit. Results of first pass work in 2006 were very encouraging, and support the proposed programme for the 2007 season estimated at CAD$780,000. Exploration work outlined below seeks to evaluate more advanced showings such as JJ Main, provide first pass exploration for showings not yet tested such as Borrow Pit, JJ West and Pb-Zn and also includes work to identify further zones of mineralization between known gold occurrences in favourable lithologies.” On the financial side, several fundamental strengths highlight Astral’s status as a rising star among juniors. The company’s management has gone to great lengths to minimize risk to shareholders by joining forces with Kootenay. The joint-venture agreement provides an excellent vehicle for maximum returns with minimum financial and political risk. Both companies work only in areas of known mineralization in mining-friendly parts of North America. Astral has assembled a diversified portfolio of properties in BC, Nevada and North and South Carolina. Funding has already been established for Phase III drilling, as the company has recently completed two financings. One of the best things about this play is its tight share structure– with only 25,134,614 shares fully diluted. More good drill results, coupled with this kind of liquidity, could easily create the kind of momentum needed for brisk price gains. With gold seemingly establishing a new base at $800 an ounce, many properties in easily accessible parts of southeastern BC are getting a well-deserved second look. With 20 out of 38 drill hole assays already in at JJ, the impetus for further exploration is clear – making it an excellent time for Astral’s investors to hitch their wagons to a star. This article is intended for information purposes only, and is not a recommendation to buy or sell the equities of any company mentioned herein. It is based on sources believed to be reliable, but no warranty as to accuracy is expressed or implied. The opinions expressed in the article are those of the author except where statements are attributed to individuals other than the author, in which case the opinions are those of the individual to whom they are attributed. # # # About ResourceX: Resourcex Investor is an internationally distributed newsletter about emerging junior resource companies. Sign up for a free 1-month trial to our newsletter and get instant access to news and investing tips that have helped many of our readers make more money. http://www.resourcex.com Website: www.resourcex.com End
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