The Pacifico property was staked because it contained streams registering among the highest cobalt values in British Columbia (the provincial Regional Geochemical database contains 64,000 samples taken from 1976 to the present). These samples were collected by government personnel in an effort to spur exploration throughout the various regions of British Columbia.
A value of 584 ppm from what is now the Pacifico property is the highest cobalt number of the more than 64,000 stream/mossmat samples taken. The remaining two samples register in the top 20 of the 64,000. Remarkably, follow-up stream sediment sampling undertaken by Silver Grail in 2019 has shown even more anomalous results, up to greater than 1,000 ppm cobalt. Moreover, all of the highly anomalous cobalt values are accompanied by equally anomalous values in manganese. The greatest of these manganese anomalies also exceeds the highest values obtained in the British Columbia surveys.
Cobalt is often associated with manganese as Co is known to partially substitute for Mn in various minerals. Deep seabed nodules containing large amounts of cobalt and manganese have been found in several ocean floor localities throughout the world but these are not yet commercially extractable. Cobalt-manganese oxide minerals such as asbolite occur in Australia, Africa and other parts of the world.
A source for the extreme cobalt anomalies on the Pacifico property has not yet been found, but Silver Grail geologists believe such source or sources lie in close proximity. The property has been more than doubled by additional staking to ensure that these hypothetical sources are within claim boundaries.
The next phase of exploration in 2020 will entail much-expanded stream sediment sampling, prospecting, geological mapping and airborne geophysical surveys. Because the area is heavily wooded, rock exposure is limited. If a source zone or zones can be identified, the next step will be diamond drilling.
The Pacifico property is located at the northern tip of Vancouver Island, in an area traversed by logging roads. Climate is relatively benign with exploration possible 8 to 10 months out of the year depending upon snow cover.