The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
Mining Explorers 2019 – Published Nov. 1, 2019
An ATV at Fireweed Zinc's MacMillan Pass project in the Yukon.
Fireweed Zinc Ltd. focused its 2019 exploration on continuing to add high-grade resources at Macmillan Pass, a 544-square-kilometer (210 square miles) zinc-lead-silver project in eastern Yukon.
Two deposits at Macmillan Pass – Tom and Jason – host 11.21 million metric tons of indicated resource averaging 6.59 percent (1.63 billion pounds) zinc, 2.48 percent (610 million lb) lead and 21.33 grams per metric ton (7.7 million ounces) silver; plus 39.47 million metric tons of inferred resource averaging 5.84 percent (5.08 billion lb) zinc, 3.14 percent (2.73 billion lb) lead and 38.15 g/t (48.4 million oz) silver.
Based on this resource, a preliminary economic assessment completed in 2018 outlined a 4,900-metric-ton-per-day mill that would produce 3.4 billion lb of zinc, 1.9 billion lb of lead and 37.2 million oz of silver over an 18-year mine life.
The PEA points to the potential of expanding high-grade mineralization below and adjacent to the known deposits.
This year's program at MacMillan Pass included 2,357 meters of core drilling testing targets in the immediate resource areas and outlying targets; geophysical and geochemical surveys; and an airborne Lidar topographic survey over the entire property.
Tom West, which hosts the bulk of the resource in the Tom deposit, and Tom North, an expansion area not included in the resource estimate were primary targets
Historical drilling at Tom North returned assays up to 5.05 percent zinc and 1.8 percent lead over 19.9 meters.
Fireweed said this year's drilling confirmed that mineralization extends to depth and begins to outline a near-surface zone of zinc-lead mineralization that is potentially amenable to open-pit mining.
TS19-001 cut 7.3 meters averaging 6.19 percent zinc and 0.51 lead; and TS19-002 cut nine meters of 6.36 percent zinc and 0.65 percent lead; TS19-005 cut 22.5 meters of 6.04 percent zinc and 0.94 percent lead; and TS19-006 cut 22.5 meters of 6.13 percent zinc and 0.95 percent lead.
"So far, Tom North is showing potential open-pit results and it is noteworthy that holes TS19-005 and TS19-006 reported much higher grades over wider intervals than the 1952 hole they twinned due to better recoveries using modern drilling techniques," said Fireweed Zinc CEO Brandon Macdonald.
After Tom North, the core drill tested the depth extension of Tom East, one of the highest-grade zones identified so far on the property.
The deepest hole drilled at Tom East during 2018 cut a 16.4-meter interval averaging 21.14 percent zinc, 13.55 percent lead and 243 g/t silver.
Jason North, Boundary and two exploration targets on the MacMillan Pass property were also tested with drilling this year.
Over his more than 16 years of covering mining and mineral exploration, Shane has become renowned for his ability to report on the sector in a way that is technically sound enough to inform industry insiders while being easy to understand by a wider audience.
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