The Pathfinder Project sits on the northeastern flank of the storied Republic–Greenwood gold district 18 km north of Grand Forks, British Columbia.
The property is surrounded on three sides by Kinross Gold Corporation with the idled, 2,000 tpd Kettle River mill 60 km to the south, giving the project access to processing and a logical acquirer. Excellent road access, nearby power, and established mining communities further compress the timeline from discovery to potential production.
Historic head grades of 17 g/t, 2 metre ‑thick veins and open strike provide an immediate, drill‑ready, route to resource definition with a fully permitted mill just 60 km away.
Highlights include multiple assays greater than 25 g/t Au, 85.8 g/t Au float, 26.8 g/t Au channel, and 2.07 % Cu + 1,487 ppm Co surface samples confirm both high‑grade shoots and the polymetallic upside.
Pathfinder hosts the past‑producing Little Bertha mine, where 876 t of ore shipped between 1900‑39 averaged 17 g/t Au‑eq (467 oz Au, 4,242 oz Ag plus Cu‑Pb credits). Veins up to 2 m wide remain open along at least 100 m of strike, and modern work keeps confirming high grades: 26.8 g/t Au & 476 g/t Ag (1996), an 85.8 g/t Au float sample with 315 ppm Te (2010), and 2019 surface assays up to 5.23 g/t Au, 2.07 % Cu and 1,487 ppm Co. Mapping outlines quartz‑sulphide replacement, skarn and vein styles reminiscent of the nearby Rossland camp—the province’s second‑largest historical gold producer—and identifies an un‑drilled bulk‑tonnage target 100 m southeast of Little Bertha. Taken together, the data point to a much larger, multi‑metal system that previous operators barely touched.
The Little Bertha Mine
The property contains the past producing Little Bertha mine (1905) with a 40-foot shaft and 250 feet of tunneling.
From 1900 to 1939, 876 tonnes of ore were shipped from the Little Bertha mine. From this ore, 467 ounces of gold, 4,242 ounces of silver, 29 kilograms of copper and 391 kilograms of lead were recovered.
The Little Bertha veins range up to 2 metres in width. The estimated strike length of the vein is approximately 100 metres and is considered open in both directions. Local concentrations of sulphides were noted near the hanging wall contact.
Past Exploration
Sampling in 1996 yielded values of 26.81 g/t gold, 475.89 g/t tonne silver and approximately 1.5 per cent combined lead and zinc from a selected sample of sulphide-rich vein (Assessment Report 25993).
In 2010, Kingsman Resources Inc. released tellurium results for samples from low-grade dumps, rock piles and an erratic float boulder on the property. In the Bertha area, the highest values include sample 90829.12 with 85.79 grams per tonne gold and 315 parts per million tellurium (Press Release, Kingsman Resources Inc., March 12, 2010)
In R.C. Well’s December, 2000 report for Conlon Resources he states; “The gold-silver mineralization at Pathfinder has several features in common with the past producing mines in the Rossland mining camp, 60 km to the southeast. This camp was historically the 2nd largest BC gold producer. Sulfide-rich ores consisted of massive pyrrhotite-rich replacement “veins” averaging close to .5 ounces per ton (17.1g/T) gold, with significant Copper and Silver.”
He further reported…. ”The Pathfinder visit confirmed the high mineral potential of the property with polymctallic sulfide replacement, skarn and quartz vein settings”
“At the Pathfinder the results to date indicate that the mineralization is probably more extensive than previously reported”
“Drilling in the 1980’s did not involve adequate sampling.
- Core sections with 5 to 2.3 g/t gold values with associated copper up to 0.5% plus silver were missed.
- The gold potential of ‘wallrocks’ with disseminated sulfides may not have been recognized during production early last century
- Lastly siliceous areas proximal to cross-cutting dykes hold potential for much higher gold and copper grades. Sampling in 2000 returned gold values up to 9 g/t, 3.70% copper and 99 g/t silver.
A second area of gold mineralization lies 100 metres southeast of the Pathfinder workings and may be linked along a northwest trending dyke contact? This area produced gold values up to 5.88 g/t, has never been drill tested, and holds some potential for bulk tonnage gold zones“
2019 Sampling Program
On July 30, 2019 Belmont announced results from fifteen (15) surface rock samples from outcrops and old mine waste piles and collected by Belmont’s contract geologist Bob Lane, P. Geo.
The mapping and sampling program verified the presence of multiple zones of quartz sulphide vein and massive pyrite-pyrrhotite-chalcopyrite replacement/skarn mineralization that warrant follow-up.
On October 17, 2019 the Company announced additional assay results.
Very encouraging Gold, Silver, and Copper assay results were identified in all samples as well as one anomalous Cobalt value as seen in the table to the right:
