Ireland


HIGHLIGHTS AND CURRENT EXPLORATION

  • Past mining district with shallow Pb/Zn mineralization remaining at West Avoca zone -- historical resource estimated at 6 million tonnes averaging 5.3% Zn and 1.9% Pb
  • Excellent potential for mineralization at depth to the historical deposit, and along strike in near surface
  • Kilmacco zone drilling returned 10.1% Zn, 5.7% Pb, 0.48% Cu, 284 g/T Ag and 4.52 g/T Au over 8.3 m
  • Favourable lithologies and prospects for 15km along strike
Work in Progress

Based on the volcanogenic model of the Avoca area, its indicated depth potential for a much larger mineralized massive sulphide system and its analogs in eastern Canada, Bayswater's initial focus will be to evaluate the depth potential of a blind deposit down plunge from the known deposit. To evaluate the depth potential of the Avoca deposit, the Company has initiated a deep penetrating induced polarization surveying of selected sections of the deposit and mine sequence. A high power gradient array system is being used that will probe the sulphide system to a depth of 750 metres.

Additionally, Bayswater will continue the evaluation of areas of exceptional potential for developing near surface resources of zinc-lead-gold-silver massive sulphide zones such as in the Kilmacco area.

The surveys will be followed by diamond drilling to first test for a deep blind deposit if warranted and then to evaluate the near surface resource potential of the Kilmacco area.

LOCATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE

The Avoca project is located in County Wicklow, southeastern Ireland, about 55 kilometres south of Dublin and and 12km northwest of the coastal port town of Arklow. The property consists of approximately 73 km2 (about 7,300 hectares) of land within two prospecting licenses. The Prospecting Licenses straddle the Avoca River, which naturally divides the project into West Avoca and East Avoca areas. Various highways and local roads provide good access to the property. The main railway line south from Dublin passes through the centre of the project area and services the port of Arklow, on the Irish Sea. Local access within the prospecting licenses is along public and private roads, as well as farm tracks. The climate at Avoca is typical for Ireland, with generally cool summers and relatively wet winters. The terrain is hilly, with much of the area mantled by glacial deposits.

click to enlarge

click to enlarge

In places on the Avoca property overburden may reach depths of several tens of metres, but in general the cover is thinner. Surface relief in the licenses increases from an elevation of about 30m above mean sea level along the south-flowing Avoca to more than 250m in the highlands to the northeast and southwest. Numerous smaller supply centres in the surrounding region would be able to provide most of the general residential and small business infrastructure necessary for a mining operation. There is mining expertise in the country, power is readily available, and there is abundant water.

EXPLORATION HISTORY

Mining of the stratiform massive sulphide deposits at Avoca for copper may have begun as early as 1720. It is estimated that nearly 12 million tonnes of copper ore averaging 0.75% copper, was won from a series of open-pit and underground mines in the district. At West Avoca, small tonnages of undeveloped zinc-lead resources remain accessible through existing flooded underground workings down to a depth of 250 m. Noranda Exploration estimated there to be as much as 6 million tonnes averaging 5.3% Zn and 1.9% Pb remaining in these areas. (This estimate was not calculated in accordance with the standards of NI 43-101, and is provided for information purposes only and should not be relied upon as an indication of total resources. For more information and references please see the Avoca Moratorium report.) Further drilling in the 1980's produced higher grade intersections, including 10.1% Zn, 5.7% Pb, 0.48% Cu, 284 g/T Ag and 4.52 g/T Au over 8.3 m in the Kilmacco zone.

File: http://www.bayswateruranium.com/i/pdf/Avoca Block Moratorium Report FEB03.pdf
 1678 KB, approx. 5 minutes, 13 seconds at 56.6Kbps

MINERAL POTENTIAL

Bayswater believes that there is exceptional opportunity to develop a base-precious metal deposit on the Avoca property. Favourable host lithologies extend the length of the licensed area, a distance of 15 km, and contain several additional base metal workings and prospects along strike from the known deposits.

Of particular note is the Kilmacco area in East Avoca which has excellent potential for expanding the historical resources of near surface zinc-lead-silver-gold mineralization. The mineralized horizon of the Kilmacco zone extends over a 2 km strike length that has been drilled to less than 100 metres in most cases. Drilling at Kilmacco in the 1980's returned several positive drill intersections, as shown in Table 1. In addition to the near surface potential at Kilmacco, there is good potential for the discovery of a much larger mineralized system at depth, down plunge to the southwest from the central copper-rich zone and adjacent zinc-lead-rich extensions. In that regard, the presently known mineralized system may be interpreted as the fringe or marginal mineralization of a larger massive volcanogenic deposit at depth.


click to enlarge

click to enlarge

GEOLOGY

The Avoca District is underlain by volcanic and sedimentary rocks. Prior to the opening of the present Atlantic Ocean basin the volcanic belt which hosts Avoca was continuous with the belt that hosts the productive Bathurst volcanogenic massive sulphide district of Eastern Canada. The Bathurst Mining Camp hosts 45 deposits and 95 occurrences including the Brunswick No. 12 deposit with a historical (non NI 43-101) geological resource of 230 Mt grading 7.66 wt % Zn, 3.01 wt % Pb, 0.46 wt % Cu and 91 g/t Ag.

The Avoca property is covered by widespread overburden and detailed geological information comes from underground workings, surface pits and clustered drill holes near known mineralization. The package of rock that hosts the Avoca mineralization is interpreted to have been folded into a large u-shape, overturned and slightly tilted both lengthwise and sideways. Mineralization occurs in the axis of the folded package of rock.

MINERALIZATION

click to enlarge

click to enlarge


The Avoca deposit includes major massive copper, zinc and lead sulphide mineralization in several forms including strings of veins, bound within the layers of the rocks, and disseminated throughout. Sulphide mineralization at Avoca is a typical example of simple volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) deposits. It includes an assemblage of pyrite, chalcopyrite, sphalerite and galena with variable but significant silver and gold. The deposits are indicated to occur over a narrow layer of rock and extend northeasterly-southwesterly over a distance of about six kilometres centred within the licensed area. The deposits are laterally zoned on a deposit basis and on a district basis. A central copper-rich zone extending for three km along strike is flanked by massive sulphide zinc and lead zones to the northeast and southwest. Individual layer-bound massive sulphide zones are flattened to lens-shaped with thicknesses of 2-15 metres and strike lengths locally exceeding 700 metres. Significant associated silver and/or gold values occur in the sulphide bodies - particularly in the zinc and lead rich massive sulphide zones. Significant volumes of low grade sulphides occur as stringer zones and disseminations in the rocks beneath massive sulphide deposits, particularly in the central portion of the copper-rich zone.