High grade, bedded barite deposits occur in upper Paleozoic sedimentary rocks of the Earn Group in south-eastern Niddery Lake map area. Following discovery and initial exploration of the TEA claims, the present owners have carried the property to the production stage through the construction, machine assembly and test operation of a beneficiation mill at Ross River.
The following conclusions were made by this study:
1- A bedded barite deposit has been identified on the TEA property in the Selwyn Mountains of the Yukon. It is of suitable tonnage to support any likely scale of production (5000 to 10,000 tonnes per year) for at least 25 years.
2 - The barite is of suitable grade such that with moderate beneficiation (from a mine run grade of approximately 4.15 S.G., to drilling mud grade of 4.20) it should find a market in both northern Canada or Alaska, enjoying a transportation cost advantage over materials presently brought from Nevada.
3 - The ore is amenable to beneficiation, based both on the preliminary laboratory work by Lakefield Research of Ontario and on the production scale test runs By H. Coyne and Sons Ltd., with the Mill at Ross River.
4 - Laboratory equipment techniques of types approved by the American Petroleum Institute are being used for quality control of product at the Ross River mill. A barite standard of known and accepted specific gravity is used to check the calibrations and performance of this quality control system.
5 - A determined market analysis has been conducted. The requested production samples are being provided to prospective purchasers in Alaska.