Bayhorse Silver Plans to Drill Bridging the Gap Project in Idaho

Bayhorse Silver (TSXV:BHS) plans to drill 1,500 metres at the Bridging Gap Project  (BTG) in Idaho’s “Silver Valley.” Drilling will target a pair of silver/lead/zinc structures at the Crown Point/Silver King Mines.
As quoted in the press release:

The mineralized zone extends east-west and is approximately 1,400 feet in length and over 1000 feet in vertical extent. The Crown Point/Silver King and Shea zones lie parallel about 300 feet apart, and extend underneath the Government Gulch access road. Initial drilling from beside Government Gulch Road will penetrate from south to north through the Shea zone and into the Crown Point/Silver King zone.

The Crown Point/Silver King zone was only mined down to the 200 level. It is a substantial structure not cut off by faulting and may extend to much greater depth as indicated from the following details. A steeply inclined shaft was sunk to the 800 foot level at Crown Point. Additionally, a drill hole from the Crown Point 200 foot level intersected 30 feet of what was reported as “good ore” in the Shea zone, 300 feet to the south (Bunker Hill mining records). See Bayhorse Silver website

The adjacent Bunker Hill Mine to the east was worked down to the 4,000 foot level, and the Page Mine, abutting the Bridging the Gap Project on the west, was mined down to the 3,500 foot level, while Hecla’s “Lucky Friday” Mine is being extended to the 10,000 foot level. Thus both the Crown Point and Shea zones are anticipated to extend below the 1000 level to depth providing promising exploration potential.

Bunker Hill Mines and ASARCO contemplated a Joint Venture to mine Bridging the Gap and they maintained a detailed map folio of all the underground workings in preparation for mining, which never eventuated.

According to the U.S Bureau of Mines, production from the BTG group of mines was over 2 million oz of silver, 9.4 million pounds of zinc and 6 million pounds of lead between 1886 – 1940. Crown Point Mines historically worked on vein systems with reported in-situ grades of up to 80 opt Silver and 65% lead, from which 3,000 tons of ore was direct shipped at that grade. Total historic production from the Crown Point/Silver King Mines was reported as 116,906 tons averaging 12 opt Ag and 11.3% lead. The Company’s geological consultants believe the grades are probably understated due to the deficiency payments made under the Mineral Defense Department during the war years when the miners produced lower grades, or diluted the mined grades, to qualify for the deficiency payments.

Click here for the full press release.