West East Copper

Project Summary

A polymetallic copper-cobalt-gold prospect on the Idaho Cobalt Belt, on the East and West forks of Indian Creek north of the old town of Ulysses, Lemhi County, Idaho. A mineralized shear zone is exposed by at least five caved adits, together with bulldozer cuts and trenches, and carries abundant copper oxides (malachite and azurite) with cobalt (erythrite) and accompanying gold and silver. Two select grab samples taken from adit dumps by the U.S. Bureau of Mines in 1995 assayed up to 2.37 g/t gold, 1.8 oz/ton silver, 508 ppm molybdenum, 580 ppm cobalt, and more than 2% copper. Historic claims covered nearly a township of mineralized ground, and the property remains open for modern systematic exploration.

The West East Copper project is located on the East and West forks of Indian Creek, north of the old mining town of Ulysses, in the Salmon-Challis National Forest, Lemhi County, Idaho. The property lies within the Idaho Cobalt Belt.

Geology

The project targets a mineralized shear zone trending approximately N. 40° W. through quartzite and phyllite, carrying quartz veins and lenses with zones of silicification. Copper mineralization is abundant as malachite and azurite within silica-rich, brecciated phyllite and quartzite, with chalcopyrite as the primary sulphide; cobalt occurs as erythrite (cobalt bloom), and gold and silver accompany the copper.

The mineralized ground extends across a wide area, with historic claim holdings covering nearly a township, indicating a large mineralized system. At least five caved adits, together with bulldozer cuts and trenches, expose the zone, and drill steel found on the property records earlier drilling. The breadth of the system and the polymetallic copper, cobalt, and gold tenor make the property well-suited to modern systematic exploration.

History

The property was held in the 1950s by J. W. Gramlich, whose claim block covered nearly a township of mineralized ground north of Ulysses; oxidized ore on two of the claims was reported to carry roughly $600,000 in gold values. In 1958, Bear Creek Mining Company examined the ground and proposed to explore and then purchase the property, which the owner valued at approximately $3,000,000. A company geologist concluded that the property was large and held promise for a sizeable body of gold, copper, and cobalt ore, while cautioning that the scale of the area would make exploration expensive.

Noranda Exploration mapped the Ulysses Mountain quadrangles during its Idaho cobalt belt reconnaissance in 1982. In 1995, U.S. Bureau of Mines personnel collected two select samples (SFJ 098-099) of malachite-, azurite-, and limonite-rich, partially silicified phyllite and quartzite from the adit dumps; the samples assayed up to 2.37 g/t gold, 1.8 oz/ton (61 g/t) silver, 508 ppm molybdenum, 580 ppm cobalt, and more than 2 percent copper. The East Fork workings are recorded as a past producer of gold, silver, copper, and zinc.

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