Summary
This large property, acquired by staking in 2003, surrounds the formerly producing Granduc copper property now owned by Castle Resources Bell Resources Corp. (“BL”), located 40 km northwest of Stewart, British Columbia.The area has been dormant since cessation of mining at Granduc in 1984 but has become active again due to the continued strong upsurge in the price of copper. Castle Resources Inc. has plans to put the property back into production by 2014.
The copper deposits at Granduc conform to the Besshi model, of which the world’s greatest example is the very large deposit at Windy Craggy in the extreme northwest corner of British Columbia (297.44 million tonnes grading 1.38% Cu, 0.2 g/t Au, 3.83 g/t Ag, 0.069% Co). Besshi deposits feature concordant massive sulphide sheets a few metres thick (often stacked like pancakes) which can extend for kilometers both along strike and down dip. Granduc has many similarities to Windy Craggy and may have an ultimate potential of around 150 million tonnes or greater.
The Silver Leduc claims cover extensions along strike both to the north and south, and along dip of the known Granduc mineralized bodies. Airborne geophysical surveys and diamond drilling results from the JK zone located on Silver Leduc ground, both suggest that Granduc-type mineralization extends onto Teuton’s property.
In 2009, Teuton concluded a royalty agreement with then owner Bell Copper (who subsequently sold the property to Castle Resources) whereby Teuton sold a 100% interest in the Leduc Silver claims in exchange for a retained 1.5% NSR and an advance annual royalty payment equivalent to $50,000 (two such payments have been received to date). As part of the arrangement, Teuton also received an NSR in certain other claims owned by Bell located north of the core Granduc mine property.
Location
The Leduc Silver property is located 40 km northwest of Stewart , British Columbia at the head of the Leduc River. Meltback of snow and icefields in this region has been ongoing since the first copper-rich orebodies were discovered at the Granduc mine in the late 1940’s. In recent years the pace of this meltback (termed “ablation”) has accelerated, so that ever larger tracts of rock have become exposed to the prospector’s pick. The 2006 discovery of the JK zone on Teuton’s ground by Bell prospectors was in just such a zone of ablation
History and Property Status
Teuton Resources Corp. acquired the Leduc Silver property by staking in 2003, to cover possible extensions to massive sulfide mineralization previously mined at the Granduc property. An additional impetus to acquiring the property was the prospect of locating silver-rich quartz veins, as indicated by old reports from the region
The decision to acquire the property proved fortuitous in 2005 when a sudden escalation in copper prices (now at record levels) re-focused attention on the region. In August, 2005, the Leduc Silver property was optioned to Bell Resources, a Vancouver junior company which in 2004 acquired full ownership of the formerly producing Granduc mine property (which the Leduc Silver property surrounds).
In 2009, the option agreement was amended to an outright purchase in favour of retained royalties and advance royalty payments (as previously described). Later in 2010, the core Granduc property and the Silver Leduc property were sold by Bell to Castle Resources Inc., which plans on putting the property into production by 2014.
Mineral Potential of Leduc Silver Property
Anomalous geophysical responses have been detected in an airborne survey commisioned by Bell that was flown over parts of the Leduc Silver property.
Follow-up work by Bell in 2006 resulted in the discovery of Granduc-type copper mineralization to the north of their core holdings on Teuton’s claims—the JK Zone. Drilling the same year intersected the following:
| Drillhole | From (m) | To (m) | Length (m) | True Thick (m) | Recovery (%) | Cu (%) | Fe (%) | Ag (g/t) | Au (g/t) |
| DDH2006-8 | 191.3 | 199.0 | 7.7 | 4.2 | 97 | 0.57 | 14.7 | 1.0 | 0.06 |
| …including | 191.3 | 194.8 | 3.5 | 1.9 | 97 | 0.74 | 21.5 | 1.5 | 0.09 |
| DDH2006-9 | 199.9 | 213.9 | 14.0 | 5.3 | 98 | 1.12 | 12.0 | 2.8 | 0.11 |
| …including | 201.1 | 208.0 | 6.9 | 2.6 | 98 | 1.47 | 11.6 | 3.4 | 0.13 |
| DDH2006-10 | 129.4 | 135.5 | 6.0 | 4.6 | 92 | 0.76 | 18.6 | 1.8 | 0.06 |
| DDH2006-10 | Hole lost at 153.3 due to high pressure water | ||||||||
| DDH2006-11 | 170.4 | 193.2 | 2.8 | 1.3 | 100 | 1.37 | 20.6 | 2.0 | 0.16 |
| DDH2006-11 | 224.3 | 230.0 | 5.8 | 2.7 | 99 | 1.26 | 17.5 | 3.9 | 0.14 |
| DDH2006-12 | Hole lost at 153.3 due to high pressure water | ||||||||
Commenting on these results Bell Resources stated:
“All five drillholes intersected the JK Zone and at least one of two subparallel zones of magnetite-pyrite-chalcopyrite iron formation situated 80 meters and 140 meters further into the footwall. Drill intersections of the shallow JK Zone returned low grade metal values and are consequently not reported in the table above. However, both of the two footwall zones produced drill intersections containing substantial thicknesses of magnetite-pyrite-chalcopyrite iron formation that are very exciting to the Company and worthy of further exploration. High pressure subterranean water prevented two of the holes from reaching the deeper mineralized interval. Final surveying of the drillholes shows that all of the mineralized drill intersections fall on mineral tenures held by the Company under option from Teuton Resources, about 100 meters north of the Company’s crown granted Granduc claims.”
Granduc Property Geology
Castle Resources, on their website, includes the following timeline for development of the Granduc mineralization:
For an excellent description of the Granduc property complete with maps, photos and other pertinent illustrations, the reader is referred to the
