The Next Great Area Play?
2009 was a trying year for the exploration industry in general with limited investor interest which resulted in extreme share price drops experienced across the board for most juniors. Metal prices dropped significantly but have recently been improving to the stage that funds are starting to become available to the sector again. During the past year Barker scaled back exploration to where field work was at a minimal level except at Frank Creek which was being prepared for the next phase of recommended exploration drilling which is currently underway.
Although not reflected in our share price many milestones and activities were completed nonetheless, which include the staking of the high grade Simlock Gold Project; continued exploration drilling of Frank Creek further confirming the VMS model and prepping the discovery for the important, potentially lucrative proving up phase; continued contact with major entities; the ongoing preparation of 43-101 reports on important projects which now include Kangaroo, Mag, Ace and Simlock Gold projects, the Frank Creek, Ace, SCR, Peacock VMS projects as well as pending 43-101 reports on the Blackbear (siver/gold), Cariboo and Black Stuart (massive sulphide) projects; complete PP's as required saving expensive brokerage fees; institution of Pro Long Campaign, an update is anticipated in the near future; fully funded Federal Government Airborne surveys completed; new projects added by staking as a result of the airborne success; and the discovery of many diamond indicators from bedrock sources on the Tasse diamond project which has many similarities to the world class Argyle Diamond mine in Australia.
Barker has successfully stuck to its model of building the Company by systematically and methodically advancing projects through the exploration process in order to build an inventory of prime drill targets which sets the stage for discovery(s). It is at this stage where the greatest gains can be made for investors throughout the entire exploration and mining cycles. Our successes to date have not only attracted the attention of Foreign Government entities, but also of top Federal Government scientists to the level where they have recently completed two fully funded geophysical airborne surveys over the majority of Barker's project areas. The results of the airborne surveys were very favorable and enhanced Barker's existing project areas as well as identified other prospective areas for different deposit types which were staked for Barker upon the release of the data to the public. These valuable surveys would have cost Barker in excess of $2.0 million if it were to have conducted them on its own.
Government Geoscience surveys of this nature save exploration companies a significant amount of time and money, zeroing in on important prospective areas which helps reduce the financial risks associated with exploration. Although there are no guarantees of success on Barker's project areas, the airborne survey's positive results enhance the economic potential of the entire property package as Government statistics show that every $1.0 million of Geoscience funding result in $5.0 million of exploration follow-up work from companies like Barker. This in turn results in the identification of $125.0 million in new mineral resources and creates numerous spin off economic benefits for many years.
For the upcoming year the main focus will be to prove up the Frank Creek VMS discovery and to bring high potential gold projects like Ace, Kangaroo and Simlock to the forefront. Barker is evaluating its options in regards to the formation of a spinoff Gold Company in order to maximize value of its high potential gold projects in a rising gold bull market.
An update on the Pro Long Campaign will be forthcoming as Barker moves forward in regard to irregular trading patterns being tracked by the Company in possible association with the spreading of false, malicious defamatory and libelous information in public, and on the internet, about management and the Company itself.
Successful proving up of a discovery is the stage of the exploration cycle where the most gains can be made by investors with joint venture partnerships occuring any time thereafter. Success in the next phase of drilling on the Frank and/or Ace, Simlock and Kangaroo gold projects may be the ignition required to start a significant area play. The high level of federal and provincial government interest as Gold and VMS in the district validates the importance of our discoveries and confirms the potential for the development of a new previously unrecognized mineralized district with potential for multiple deposit types, similar to other important mining districts around the world.
The discovery of a geological environment on the Tasse project that could host diamonds is very exciting with diamond indicator studies coming back highly positive. The geological environment and the type of diamond indicators identified both support the model for potential of an "Argyle Type" diamond deposit on the Tasse project area. The Argyle mine is the world's richest and largest diamond mine.
Most world class mineral deposits are found in Volcanic Arc and Back-arc geological environments, with a wide variety of deposit types including, base metals, precious metals and diamonds. The exploration efforts to date have indicated that our properties have many similarities to other world class mining districts. The economic potential has also been confirmed by numerous major mining companies and government scientists.
Company Highlights
• 26 100% owned projects, comprised of over 300,000 acres -- short and long term potential
• Projects well diversified by deposit type and commodities
• 8 projects drill ready with over 150 drill targets outlined
• Excellent access and infrastructure -- it is possible to drill year round if we desire
• Significant VMS, Diamond indicator and Gold discoveries -- at the most profitable stage to investors if discoveries are proven
• Third party verification of projects -- G.S.C, B.C.G.S., independent consultants and numerous major companies
• Major Company interest -- over the years a number of Major Mining companies and International Government Entities have signed confidentiality agreement's and visited the property expressing interest in possible future joint venture's (J/V's). Success in the next phase of drilling on the Gold and VMS projects could result in a possible bidding war for optioning or J/V's by interested majors from around the world who are eagerly awaiting the next phase of drilling
• Loyal shareholders
• Tightly held share structure
• Pro Long Campaign
• Experienced, dedicated hands on management
The Company has helped reduce risk by having numerous projects, with multiple mineral deposit types, with a variety of different metals in its property portfolio. This allows the flexibility to advance projects under most economic conditions. The world we live in today is full of ticking time bombs and we believe companies should be taking cautionary steps now to be able to survive whatever is thrown at them in the future. This most recent downturn has provided the opportunity to get the last few components in place and complete strategic planning before the inevitable turnaround which could come at anytime.
Should things get worse on a world wide basis we can simply shift our focus to the precious metal projects, gold in particular. If things continue in China and India as they are now in regards to the supply and demand for base metals we will continue to focus on advancing our polymetallic VMS and gold projects simultaneously.
VMS District Size Potential
Our most advanced project, Frank creek, is in a polymetallic Kuroko style VMS environment which has been validated by numerous independent 3rd parties that include provincial and federal government geologists as well as major mining companies who have visited the projects and reviewed all of the technical data. The Frank Creek Project has many similarities to the large and lucrative Kidd Creek and Brunswick 12 VMS deposits in eastern Canada which are known as "Company Builder" type deposits which have produced $33B and $26B respectively.
District Size Gold Potential
A potential major gold discovery has been made on the Kangaroo Gold project which is ready for follow up programs. The project is upslope and upstream from historic and present placer gold operations. Exploration to date has confirmed gold in bedrock through drilling and identified a compelling 1.5 km x 2.0 km strong geophysical anomaly coincident with a gold soil anomaly.
The high grade Simlock Gold project is along strike of the Ace Gold project and has never been drilled. The project has samples as high as 4.1 metres across with over 1.0 oz/t gold and a strong 1.5km gold in soil anomaly in favorable geology which is open-ended.
The Ace Intrusion Related Gold project has numerous drill targets defined with grab samples assaying up to 29.9 grams per ton gold. The recent geophysical airborne survey exhibits similarities which are indicative of an Intrusion Related Gold System (IRGS) being present over a 10km x 4km area, which is similar in size to the area of the gold rich quartz float boulder train flanking the north east slopes of Mount Barker. Together, the geology, geochemistry and geophysics along with a mineralogical association of tellurides, bismuth and tungsten with gold mineralization enhances the potential for a significant gold system to be present on the Ace property.
The management and directors of Barker thank you for your vote of confidence, your support, and last of all, your patience, as we move together through one of the most difficult times in the history of the resource sector. We remain confident and are committed to creating maximum share value and maximizing our assets through discovery in order to benefit our shareholders, now and in the future.
Sincerely yours,
Louis E. Doyle, President & CEO
