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 MINERAL CREEK OVERVIEW
During the year ended October 31, 2009, Bitterroot increased its ownership interest in the 6,960 hectare (17,200 acre) Mineral Creek property from 75 percent to 100 percent by issuing 2,000,000 common shares and granting a 0.5% net smelter returns royalty to the vendor.
In 2009, the Company's drilling contractor completed 8,646 metres of drilling in 68 holes. Although most of this drilling focused on defining the Ember vein, with the previously stated goal of establishing a mineral resource compliant with NI 43-101, this objective was not achieved in 2009. High-grade portions of the vein were identified, but the Company's new Qualified Person has concluded that additional drilling is required in order to accurately define high-grade shoots hosting greater than 30 grams Au/tonne within the Ember vein. Drilling has defined the Ember vein structure over a strike length of approximately 150 metres and elevation range of at least 90 metres. A new mineralized vein (HW-1 vein) was also discovered in the hanging wall of the Ember vein. These en-echelon veins are offset or intruded by several mafic or ultramafic dykes. This year's drilling intersected a number of high-grade intervals, including a 4.2 metre (13.8 feet) core interval which grades 75.4 grams gold/tonne (2.2 ounces gold/ton). Drilling of the HW-1 vein returned a 0.3 metre-thick interval grading 137.5 grams gold/Tonne (1.0 feet grading 4.0 oz gold/ton) in hole BTT-E53. A second interval from the HW-1 vein also returned high-grade silver mineralization (1,170 grams silver/Tonne over 0.13 metres, or 0.43 feet grading 34.1 oz silver/ton) in hole BTT-E35. The HW-1 vein is the sixth high-grade gold-bearing vein identified to date on the Mineral Creek property, in addition to the Linda, Ember, 900, 1050 and Mineral Creek zones. The late arrival of the spring thaw shortened the drilling season on the property and did not allow the previously planned drill-testing of several other outlying targets identified by historical drilling, prospecting and recently completed VTEM airborne geophysical surveys.
Bitterroot has retained C.J. Greig and Associates Ltd. to undertake a thorough and extensive GIS-based compilation of all exploration data collected during the past 30 years on the property from over 70,000 metres of drilling, plus surface and underground exploration data collected by Bitterroot, Westmin Resources and others. This data compilation is expected to take several months to complete. The Company's objectives and strategy for the 2010 exploration program will be developed following the receipt of results from this data compilation. As of January 19, 2010, Mr. Charles Greig, P.Geo is the new Qualified Person responsible for the design and implementation of exploration programs on the Mineral Creek project.
As a condition of the property purchase agreement with the vendor Mineral Creek Ventures Inc. (MCVI), a company controlled by Michael Becherer, P.Geo, MCVI has the right to extract up to a 5,500 tonne bulk sample. The costs and proceeds of the first 2,500 tonnes mined from the Linda zone are split 50/50 by MCVI and Bitterroot. To date, MCVI has mined approximately 570 tonnes from an adit in the Linda vein. Sulphide concentrates derived from this material are currently being processed to generate a saleable gold/silver product. Sales of this material occur at the discretion of MCVI, the bulk sample project operator. As of the date of this report, Bitterroot has received $56,795 for its 50% share of proceeds from bullion sales. MCVI reports that bulk sampling is expected to resume in the spring of 2010. The Company has deferred indefinitely the planned acquisition of permits to mine and process larger tonnages of high-grade gold-bearing vein material, pending the outcome of the data compilation and bulk sampling.
In the year ended October 31, 2009, Bitterroot spent $1,772,623 on the Mineral Creek project, net of stock-based compensation and recoveries, mainly on drilling, acquisition costs and geological consulting. Mr. Michael Becherer, P.Geo was the Qualified Person responsible for the design and implementation of exploration programs on the Mineral Creek project in 2009. Analyses were done at ALS Chemex in North Vancouver, BC, by ICP-AES and fire assay/AA methods.
Mineral Creek Property
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