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Fireweed Zinc LTD. ("Fireweed") (TSXV: FWZ) is pleased to announce that the 2021 diamond drill program has started at the Macmillan Pass zinc-lead-silver project, Yukon, Canada.
Highlights
- Two diamond drill rigs have commenced drilling at Macmillan Pass.
- Drilling will focus on Boundary Zone and follow-up drill testing of last season's Boundary West discovery.
- Holes at Tom East and Jason South will include step-outs from current Mineral Resources and will allow deployment of detectors for borehole muon tomography surveys in locations with favourable ground conditions.
CEO Statement
Brandon Macdonald, CEO, stated "We are excited to get drills turning again at Boundary Zone and especially at the new Boundary West discovery from late last season. This drill program will allow us to both further test the extent of the main zones of mineralization as well as explore the potential of new targets. The planned drilling will allow us to prove up our new discovery and step-out on known zones which still remain open for expansion."
Boundary Zone Drilling
The diamond drill program has begun with the first holes targeting step-outs around the 2020 discovery, Boundary Zone West, 300 m to the west of Boundary Zone. Drilling highlights from 2020 include Boundary Zone West hole NB20-004, which intersected 76.5 m of 4.22 % zinc (Zn), 0.34% lead (Pb), and 25.6 g/t silver (Ag) including 24.1 m of 6.46% Zn, 0.77% Pb and 47.5 g/t Ag within 90 m vertical depth from surface (see Fireweed news releases dated February 3, 2021 and February 25, 2021).
Zinc-lead-silver mineralization in the Boundary Zone area occurs in several styles, including: high-grade stratiform barite-replacement similar in style to mineralization seen at Tom and Jason; sphalerite-pyrite-galena veins and high grade breccias; and stratiform zinc mineralization in the same age host rocks as the giant Howard's Pass deposits. Zinc mineralization has been demonstrated over approximately 2 km in strike from previous historic and Fireweed drilling. The diversity in mineralization styles and the large area endowed with zinc mineralization suggest that Boundary Zone formed as part of a long-lived hydrothermal system that experienced multiple pulses of mineralization. Drilling at Boundary Zone and Boundary West will comprise step-out holes to better understand the grade, geometry and continuity of mineralization within what already appears to be an extensive hydrothermal system.
Tom East Drilling
Two drill holes are planned at Tom East, a high-grade zone with a current Mineral Resource of 0.81 Mt at 8.74% Zn, 8.62% Pb, and 110.0 g/t Ag Indicated Resource in addition to 1.68 Mt at 9.86% Zn, 12.86% Pb and 170.0 g/t Ag Inferred Resource (see Fireweed news releases dated January 10 th , 2018, and reports filed on www.sedar.com for details). In 2018, Fireweed drilled a very-high grade step-out hole at Tom East in an area outside of the current Mineral Resource, intersecting 16.41 m of 21.1% Zn, 13.5% Pb and 243.0 g/t Ag (see Fireweed news release dated September 20 th , 2018) in an interval containing the dense minerals galena-sphalerite-barite-pyrite-pyrrhotite. The two holes planned at Tom East will add definition to this high-grade zone and aim to facilitate a borehole muon survey to determine if a dense 3D body can be imaged around this step-out intersection to better target follow-up drilling (see Fireweed news release dated May 27 th , 2021 for details of the borehole muon tomography survey).
Jason South Drilling
One step-out hole is planned at Jason South to test the fault offset exploration target, outside of the current Jason South Inferred Mineral Resource of 8.93 Mt at 4.41% Zn, 5.28% Pb, and 68.0 g/t Ag (see Fireweed news releases dated January 10 th , 2018, and reports filed on www.sedar.com for details). Within this Lower Jason South exploration target, historic drill hole JS82-086 intersected 13.8 m of 7.2% Zn, 5.3% Pb, 118 g/t Ag in addition to 9.2 m 1.6% Zn, 16.5% Pb, 92 g/t Ag and its wedge hole JS82-086W1 intersected 27.3 m of 8.0% Pb, 58 g/t Ag, 0.07% Zn. This planned hole is optimally placed to allow potential deployment of muon detectors to image the density of the exploration target to better guide follow-up drill holes.
Additional Exploration Work
A geological mapping program along with geophysical surveys will support the evaluation of regional targets within the context of the 2020 discovery of mineralization hosted in the same age rocks as those of the large Howard's Pass deposit to the southeast. This new wave of zinc-lead-silver exploration in the district will examine a search space that has been previously overlooked and represents significant opportunities for additional discoveries.
Qualified Person Statement
Technical information in this news release has been approved by Jack Milton, P.Geo., Ph.D., Chief Geologist and a ‘Qualified Person' as defined under Canadian National Instrument 43-101.
About Fireweed Zinc Ltd. (TSXV: FWZ): Fireweed Zinc is a public mineral exploration company focused on zinc-lead-silver and managed by a veteran team of mining industry professionals. The Company is advancing its district-scale 940 km 2 Macmillan Pass Project in Yukon, Canada, which is host to the 100% owned Tom and Jason zinc-lead-silver deposits with current Mineral Resources and a PEA economic study (see Fireweed news releases dated January 10, 2018, and May 23, 2018, respectively, and reports filed on www.sedar.com for details) as well as the Boundary Zone, Tom North Zone and End Zone which have significant zinc-lead-silver mineralization drilled but not yet classified as mineral resources. The project also includes large blocks of adjacent claims (MAC, MC, MP, Jerry, BR, NS, Oro, Sol, Ben, and Stump) which cover exploration targets in the district where previous and recent work identified zinc, lead and silver prospects, and geophysical and geochemical anomalies in prospective host geology.
Additional information about Fireweed Zinc and its Macmillan Pass Zinc Project including maps and drill sections can be found on the Company's website at www.FireweedZinc.com and at www.sedar.com .
ON BEHALF OF Fireweed Zinc LTD.
" Brandon Macdonald "
Brandon MacDonald
CEO & Director
Phone: (604) 646-8361
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Cautionary Statements
This news release may contain "forward-looking" statements and information relating to the Company and the Macmillan Pass Project that are based on the beliefs of Company management, as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to Company management. Such statements reflect the current risks, uncertainties and assumptions related to certain factors including but not limited to, without limitations, exploration and development risks, expenditure and financing requirements, general economic conditions, changes in financial markets, pandemics, the ability to properly and efficiently staff the Company's operations, the sufficiency of working capital and funding for continued operations, title matters, First Nations relations, operating hazards, political and economic factors, competitive factors, metal prices, relationships with vendors and strategic partners, governmental regulations and oversight, permitting, seasonality and weather, technological change, industry practices, and one-time events. Additional risks are set out in the Company's prospectus dated May 9, 2017, and filed under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com . Should any one or more risks or uncertainties materialize or change, or should any underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results and forward-looking statements may vary materially from those described herein. The Company does not undertake to update forward‐looking statements or forward‐looking information, except as required by law.
Map 1: Location of Macmillan Pass deposits and exploration targets is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/974cd0ca-fecb-42c4-8cbb-e4cfd082c6d7 .
