Poplar Project

  • 100% owned by Lions Gate Metals
  • National Instrument 43-101 Compliant inferred resource of 245,000,000 tonnes containing 0.27% Copper (using 0.15% cut-off); 1.4 Billion pounds of copper.
    • Gold and Silver mineralization also occurs - assays pending
  • 175 Mineral Claims covering 69,185 hectares
  • Excellent Location & Infrastructure
    • 35 km from Imperial Metals' Huckleberry Mine
    • accessible by Forest Service access roads
  • NI 43-101 published September 26, 2011 by G. H. Giroux, MASc., P.Eng.
  • Drilling Completed
    • 30,000+ m drilling over 121 holes / Significant geochemical & geophysical
    • Historical work:
      • 39,482 m drilling over 163 holes
    • Significant geochemical & geophysical surveys completed
    • Fall 2011 Drill Program completed; 10,913 metres
    • Permitted for 4 years and 75 locations
    • Poplar Regional ground surveys completed Summer 2011 to define targets for future drill programs at:
      • Aspen
      • Red Pine
      • Pimpernel
      • Copper Pond



      Download the Poplar Project - Drill Hole Location Map (PDF 2.7MB)


      The Poplar copper - molybdenum deposit is situated in the Central Interior of the Province of British Columbia, approximately 50 kilometres south of the town of Houston. The mineral tenures are located in the Omineca Mining Division on NTS map sheets 093E14, 093E/15, 093L/02 and 093L/03. The property is held with 167 mineral tenures covering a surface area of 63,386 hectares. The tenures are owned by Lions Gate Metals Inc. of Vancouver, British Columbia, Free Miner's Certificate Number 110036770. Details of tenure status are provided below. Access to the property from Houston in good weather is by two-wheel drive on Forest Service access roads or by four-wheel drive vehicle at other times.

      The Poplar deposit is a copper - molybdenum porphyry associated with the Late Cretaceous Poplar intrusive stock. The deposit is located 750 metres north of Tagetochlain (Poplar) Lake at an elevation of approximately 900 metres. The Huckleberry Mine, located approximately 35 kilometres southwest of the Poplar Deposit, produces copper and molybdenum from a deposit of similar age and setting.

      The property is underlain by andesitic volcanic rocks of the Cretaceous Kasalka Group. These rocks are in faulted contact to the northeast with calc-alkaline rocks of the Telkwa Formation of the Lower Jurassic Hazelton Group. The Kasalka Group rocks have been intruded by stock-like bodies attributed to the Lower Cretaceous Bulkley Plutonic suite. Outliers of the volcanic Eocene Ootsa Lake Group overlap the Kasalka and Bulkley Plutonic Rocks. Zones of alteration and sulphide mineralization associated with these intrusions have resulted in the formation of the Poplar porphyry copper - molybdenum deposit.

      The status of the Poplar copper molybdenum deposit is one of active development. Since the drilling of the discovery hole in 1974, the property has gone through successive stages of exploration and development drilling, resulting in the publishing of a historical resource estimate in 1982. The Polar property is under active development at the time of preparation of this report. A deep imaging Induced Polarization survey was completed over the deposit in the fall of 2009 with the goals of extending known mineralization laterally and at depth. A time domain airborne magnetic and electromagnetic survey was completed in the fall of 2009 over the deposit and surrounding 56,000 hectare property. The Poplar property was staked in 1971 by Mr. Frank Onucki with partners Messrs. Mike Callaghan and Clyde Critchlow for the El Paso Mining and Milling Company (Price, 2004). The El Paso Mining and Milling Company conducted geochemical surveys, geological mapping and trenching. They abandoned the property in 1972, and it was reacquired by the original stakers. The property was then optioned in 1974 by Utah Mines Limited. Following preliminary geophysical and geochemical surveys, Utah drilled four holes in the fall of 1974. The discovery hole on the Poplar property PC-1 was completed on October 27, 1974 (Schmidt, 1974). Extensive diamond drilling between 1974 and 2005 has outlined a medium- sized porphyry copper-molybdenum deposit. This work was guided in the past by geochemical and geophysical surveys. Between 1974 and 2005, a total of 23,164 metres were drilled in 105 holes by various operators.

      During 2011 Lions Gate drilled 13 diamond drill holes on the property totalling 5,569 m. While Au and Ag were assayed in the most recent 2005 and 2011 drill holes, the historic drilling only had partial coverage a lot of which was over wider composited assays. As a result gold and silver are not estimated in this resource. The values obtained in the more recent data, however, indicate gold and silver should be analyzed in all future drilling so they can be estimated in future resource updates.

      To determine the resource present on Poplar a three dimensional solid was constructed to constrain the mineralized area, using a 0.1 % Cu grade shell as a guide. Of the total data base, 78 drill holes totalling 21,750 m were within the mineralized zone and were used to estimate the resource. Drill holes were compared to the mineralized solid and assays were tagged if inside. Copper and molybdenum assays were capped at 1.5 % Cu and 0.082 % Mo. Five metre composites were formed and used for variography. Blocks 20 x 20 x 10 m in dimension were estimated for Cu and Mo by ordinary kriging. At this time the entire resource is classified as Inferred. At a 0.20 % Cu cut-off the Inferred resource is 180 million tonnes averaging 0.30 % Cu and 0.008 % Mo.

      A second phase of diamond drilling is recommended consisting of 10,000 m in 20 to 25 diamond drill holes. The drill program is estimated to cost $2,000,000.



      POPLAR MINERALIZED ZONE - INFERRED RESOURCE

      Copper Cut-off

      Tonnes> Cut-off

      Average Grade > Cut-off

      Contained Metal
      (%)
      tonnes)
      Cu
      Mo
      Million
      Million
       
      (%)
      (%)

      lbs of Cu

      lbs of Mo
      0.05

      372,299,000
      0.21
      0.005

      1748.558

      41.046
      0.10
      334,563,000
      0.23
      0.006
      1689.359

      44.263
      0.15
      245,855,000
      0.27
      0.007
      1442.013
      37.948
      0.20

      180,304,000

      0.30
      0.008

      1192.711

      31.806
      0.25

      122,988,000

      0.34
      0.009
      908.482

      24.407
      0.30

      78,076,000
      0.37

      0.010
      636.983

      17.216
      0.35
      41,029,000
      0.41
      0.010
      372.732

      9.047
      0.40
      17,835,000
      0.47
      0.009
      182.867
      3.539
      0.45
      8,137,000
      0.52
      0.008
      92.761
      1.435
      0.50
      3,861,000
      0.57
      0.008
      48.272
      0.681
      0.55
      1,857,000
      0.62
      0.007
      25.264
      0.287
      0.60
      953,000
      0.66
      0.006
      13.953
      0.126
      0.65
      447,000
      0.71
      0.004
      6.998
      0.039
      0.70
      177,000
      0.77
      0.002
      3.005
      0.008


      43-101 Prepared By: G. H. Giroux, MASc., P.Eng. Giroux Consultants Ltd. September 12, 2011

      Download Poplar 43-101 Technical Report (PDF 3.98MB)