In this week’s podcast we had the opportunity to talk to Michelle Robinson, Chief Geologist of Brigadier Gold [TSX-V:BRG / OTC:BGADF / FRA:B7LM]. On the podcast we talk to Robinson about the company’s current Picachos project in Mexico.
Robinson first came across the details of the Picachos project by fluke. The data in a wrongly labelled fax made her sit up and take notice. It contained readings from samples taken at the Picachos location by a previous explorer which showed such a high gold and silver content that it prompted her to investigate further.
A potential bonanza gold opportunity
Two things became obvious from the initial set of data. Firstly, the samples contained one part gold to one or two parts of silver. Secondly, at today’s metal prices the value of the samples ranged between $3,000 and $8,700 per tonne.
For reference, explorers will start considering building a mine even at a value of $100/t. Using all the information she had to hand including the geographic location, the geochemistry, and the geochemical maps made available by the Mexican government, Robinson plotted an area on the map that indicated there was a much larger anomaly than what used to be on the site before – an artisanal mine called St. Agustin not far from the Picachos village. It also became clear that there had to be other worthwhile prospects nearby.
The next step was to do some very rudimentary testing using underground rock chip channel samples. These showed lower readings but still, the gold values in the new samples ranged from 21 grams per tonne to about 0 .1 g. Of these, seven samples contained more than 1 gram of gold while five contained more than 5 grams of gold per tonne.
To put this into context, the sample set that led to the discovery of the Sleeper Gold mine, a high grade mine in Nevada which operated in the late 80ties and 90ties, had only one sample with more grams per tonne. “From this early data it was obvious to me that there was a major precious metal system here,” says Robinson on the podcast.
What you need to know about Brigadier Gold
Two other companies are already operating gold mines on adjacent properties. There is also solid infrastructure in place including roads and electricity that might be needed in the future. This bodes well for Brigadier Gold’s Picachos which stretches across about 4,000 hectares and has a high amplitude geochemical anomaly underneath the surface.
2020 has been a busy year for Brigadier Gold in terms of exploration and the company is only just getting started. It has so far used one diamond drill to pick up core samples from the old St. Agustin mine and there is a lot more property to explore. An update on the readings is expected in January.
The company is currently exploring under Mexican exploration rules called Norma which will allow it to do more work before needing to seek out further permits. For the moment, there is more testing in the pipeline but already the values indicate that it would be feasible to have a mine on the site in the future. Apart from gold and silver the samples so far also contain other metals such as copper and molybdenum, which may or may not become part of the future equation.
