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Skeena Resources (TSXV:SKE) provided an update on the progress of drilling and exploration activities at its Spectrum gold project in northwestern British Columbia. The company also gave an update on ongoing metallurgical studies at the project.
Skeena Resources (TSXV:SKE) provided an update on the progress of drilling and exploration activities at its Spectrum gold project in northwestern British Columbia. The company also gave an update on ongoing metallurgical studies at the project.
As quoted in the press release, highlights of recent drill results include:
To date, a total of 2205 m in 10 drill holes has been completed using two drills. Core is being logged and cut on site and 3 shipments of half core samples have been sent to the lab. Assays are pending and will be reported in batches once results are received and checked for quality control. The following table gives the status of drill holes to date:
An updated drill plan and cross sections have been posted to the Company website at www.Skeenaresources.com. A total of 10,000 to 12,000 m of drilling in 50 to 60 NQ holes is planned for this field season, with holes averaging 200 m and varying from 50 to 350 m in depth. The drill program has been designed to expand the historic resource at the 500 Colour and Central zones, the latter of which includes the QC 1, QC 2, Porphyry 1, and Porphyry 2 structures. Other holes will test other outlying targets.
In terms of broader exploration work at the property, Skeena’s release stated:
A 17-square kilometre area in the core of the property has been covered with 1:5000 scale geological mapping by Dr. Jim Oliver, P.Geo. This work has greatly improved the understanding of the rock types, alteration, structure and controls on mineralization and will help guide exploration going forward.
A total of 166 samples of split drill core have been collected from historic core stored on the property and sent for fire assay. This work has targeted intervals with >1 g/t Au and will be used to confirm previous results for the resource model. In addition, about 600 core samples from 2014 are being re-run by enhanced fire assay methods in order to provide higher precision analyses for resource studies.
Prospecting and soil sampling has focused on possible extensions to the know mineralized structures, especially south and northeast of the Central Zone, and in the East Creek, Skarn and other peripheral targets. Some 166 prospecting rock samples and 535 soil samples have been collected and shipped to the lab. Additional prospecting is planned once initial results are received.
Ronald Netolitzky, Skeena’s Chairman commented “The positive metallurgical tests bode well for the success of the project, and we are excited to start receiving assays from the aggressive 2015 drilling campaign, which we expect will lead to a significant 43-101 resource in Q1 2016”.
The Qualified Person responsible for reviewing the metallurgical data in this news release is Michael Yakimchuk, P.Eng. The geological information in this news release has been reviewed by Michael S. Cathro, MSc, PGeo, Skeena’s vice-president of operations and a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101.
Spectrum is a structurally-hosted, high-grade, mesothermal gold deposit located in the prolific Golden Triangle of northwestern British Columbia. This area hosts other world-class gold and gold-copper mines and projects including Valley of the Kings (Pretivm), KSM (Seabridge), Galore Creek (Teck-Novagold), Snip (Barrick), Eskay Creek (Barrick) and Red Chris (Imperial). Infrastructure in the area has been greatly improved by the 2014 completion of BC Hydro’s Northwest Transmission Line and Red Chris – Iskut Extension powerline, which passes within 30 km of the property.
Skeena’s corporate goal is to establish a 43-101 compliant, high-grade gold resource in multiple, closely spaced, steeply dipping, parallel structures. The Spectrum property includes 13 known gold prospects most of which have received no previous drilling. The Central and 500 Colour zones are the most advanced, with nearly 100 drill holes and a historical gold resource of 614,000 tonnes grading 12.3 g/t Au at a 5.0 g/t cut-off, for 7550 Kg Au (243,600 ounces). The zones are open along strike in both directions, and at depth. The reader is cautioned that the historical estimate is not current and a Qualified Person has not done sufficient work to classify the historical estimate. Skeena is not treating the historical estimate as a current resource estimate.