Bayfield Gets Set to Drill at the Edge of #17 in the Rainy River Gold Belt

All dreams, rumors, and other Fleetwood Mac references aside, Bayfield Ventures (TSX.V:BYV) really is at the “Edge of 17” as it gets set to drill its newly acquired parcel of land adjacent to Rainy River Resources’ (TSX.V:RR) #17 gold zone. Management has successfully negotiated a deal to tie up certain patent mineral rights totaling 80 acres (known as Parcel #15961) in the Richardson Township. As per its October 11th press release, the company issued 70,000 shares to Kenneth, Brian, Stephen and Robert Burns (each as to a 25% interest). The company has an option to earn 100% interest in connection with its option agreement dated September 26 on the claims, subject to a 2% net smelter return royalty.

Bayfield has a sizeable land position totaling 1125 hectares in the red-hot Rainy River gold belt. Rainy River is located 80 km south of Kenora in northwestern Ontario. Amenable weather conditions and excellent infrastructure support year-round exploration and drilling.

Rainy River is described as a greenstone belt with both Archean-aged volcanic and sedimentary horizons. To date, the rock types encountered are principally mafic, including pillowed lavas. Veining and sulfidation* has been encountered in all holes. The main exploration focus so far has been on the northwest trending, cross-cutting faults and a number of late diabase dikes**.

This past month has been a busy one – the company has also recently completed the first round of drilling on claim block ‘A’ of its holdings. Bayfield owns three strategically located properties (known as the A, B and C blocks) within the belt. This summer’s work program focused on drilling five drill holes within the ‘A’ block totaling approximately 1,000 metres (about 200 metres per hole), which have now been completed and are in for assay. These targets were identified as a result of a previous work program of geophysical surveying and coincident gold grain sampling.

Investors can look forward to more news from Bayfield over the next few months, as the company plans to continue drilling into the winter months. Intended drill targets will actually be more accessible after freeze-up, as much of the company’s holdings are overlain by typical northern Ontario swamp.

Rainy River Resources is currently drilling immediately west of Parcel #15961. Previous drill intercepts (historic, non-43-101 compliant) in the #17 Gold Zone include 5.1 grams gold over 62.57 metres (0.18 opt gold over 205 feet) drilled by Nuinsco, who owned the property from 1993 to 2005. Rainy River Resources latest results, as per its November 5th press release show a 4 meter-wide semi-massive sulphide horizon grading 25.67 g/t Au and 184.14 g/t Ag in a step out hole south of the ODM Zone, which is just west of zone #17. Rainy River Resources website describes its own findings in the area as the “delineation of the largest and most intense gold-anomalous till layer ever encountered in Canada, much larger, in fact, than the anomaly that led to the discovery of the Casa Berardi gold deposits in the Abitibi greenstone belt in northwestern Quebec.” Bayfield‘s immediate plans for Parcel #15961 include establishing a grid and conducting both a mag and an EM survey as it gears up for an immediate drill program.

In terms of being seriously undervalued, Bayfield stands above the crowd for several reasons: Due to its tight share structure; its strategic large landholdings next to major players in extensively mineralized regions; close relationships with some of the biggest mining companies in the world; and its seasoned management, whose expertise is specific to gold exploration in northwestern Ontario’s gold belts.

Bayfield offers its investors something that is rarely seen these days – a tight share structure. The company has only 19 million shares outstanding (21.5 million fully diluted) in a market full of bloated issuers with floats of 60, 100, even 180 million shares outstanding. A lean issue is evidence of management’s priorities (and track record) regarding sound financial management. More importantly, management actually has a personal incentive to find a mine, which means that with some positive drill results, Bayfield could take off like a shot.

This latest acquisition underscores the company’s philosophy of acquiring prime ground adjacent to major players and negotiating advantageous partnerships with them, enabling it to minimize risk to its investors while maximizing the potential for a big win.

Management has the business in its blood. President Don Huston grew up in Red Lake, Ontario and has over 25 years’ experience in both the technical and financial spheres of the mining industry. The work program at Rainy River is led by Bayfield’s exploration manager and Qualified Person, David Busch, P.Geo., who is considered one of Canada’s foremost experts on Archean lode gold deposits. Mr. Busch has over 30 years’ experience working in Northwest Ontario’s greenstone belts. He is also managing Bayfield’s Red Lake camp.

The addition of Parcel #15961 complements what is a well-diversified portfolio, which includes a 24.5% interest in six claim units (known as the Baird property) in the Red Lake gold camp of northwestern Ontario, which is 14 km southwest of Goldcorp's operating gold mines. Goldcorp has partnered with Bayfield for a 51% stake in the Baird property. The company also owns a 100% interest in a copper-gold and coal property in the South Gobi region of Mongolia, where it has a partnership with BHP Billiton, in which BHP earns 51% while funding all exploration costs over the next two years.

Investors should stay tuned for more encouraging news in the weeks ahead – the company is expecting results from the Block ‘A’ drill program to arrive shortly. As for the outlook on BYV’s upside potential, the sky’s the limit – but it always helps to get in on the ground.

*Sulfidation: When metal is exposed to sulfur compounds, resulting in the formation of a sulfide film. The sulfides do not normally form coherent, continuous layers and do easily become detached from the metal surface.

**Diabase dikes and sills are typically shallow intrusive bodies (200 to 400 meters). Diabase refers to the type of rock (mafic, igneous, for example). Dykes are typically vertical structures; sills run horizontally. The thickness of these structures is usually much smaller than the other two dimensions they have are squeezed between. Thickness can vary from sub-centimeter scale to many meters and the lateral dimensions can extend over many kilometers.

This article is intended for information purposes only, and is not a recommendation to buy or sell the equities of any company mentioned herein. It is based on sources believed to be reliable, but no warranty as to accuracy is expressed or implied. The opinions expressed in the article are those of the author except where statements are attributed to individuals other than the author, in which case the opinions are those of the individual to whom they are attributed.