On Saturday June 23rd a field trip sponsored by the Mineralogical Association of Canada (MAC) and offered in conjunction with the inaugural Resources for Future Generations Conference in Vancouver paid a visit to Commerce Resources’ Upper Fir carbonatite-hosted niobium (Nb) and tantalum (Ta) deposit located near Blue River, B.C.

The Upper Fir is one of the largest and best-studied Nb/Ta deposits in the world, hosting an NI 43-101 compliant resource of 48.4 million tonnes (indicated category) averaging 1,610 ppm Nb2O5 and 197 ppm Ta2O5 plus 5.4 million tonnes (inferred category) averaging 1,760 ppm Nb2O5 and 191 ppm Ta2O5.

The site visit was organized and led by Dr. Alexei S. Rukhlov, P.Geo. of the British Columbia Geological Survey (BCGS), Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources, and participants included the Canadian Museum of Nature’s Dr. Paula Piilonen, who is also currently president of the MAC. Commerce Resources was represented by Justin Schroenn and Mike Hodge (now also the president of Saville Resources Inc.), who has been an integral member of the Upper Fir deposit’s exploration team since initially hand-staking Commerce’s Blue River set of Nb/Ta claims in 1999.

Download your free copy of the Field trip guidebook to the Upper Fir carbonatite-hosted Ta-Nb deposit, Blue River area, east-central British Columbia (GeoFile 2018-6) from the British Columbia Geological Survey website (PDF, 7.9 MB).