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
Geologists carry out sampling and mapping at Strikepoint Gold's newly acquired Willoughby gold-silver project.
StrikePoint Gold Inc. focused its 2019 exploration primarily on Willoughby, the Vancouver, British Columbia-based junior's newest gold and silver property in B.C.'s Golden Triangle.
An intrusion related gold-silver project with similarities to Ascot Resources Ltd.'s Red Mountain Mine project about seven kilometers (four miles) to the west, Willoughby is the second Golden Triangle property StrikePoint added to its portfolio in as many years. The other, Porter, is a past producing high-grade silver property on Mount Rainey overlooking the town of Stewart.
StrikePoint acquired Willoughby from ArcWest (formerly Sojourn Exploration Inc.) in March for C$85,000 in cash and 3 million StrikePoint shares.
"The acquisition of the Willoughby property compliments the Porter project and other ground staked in 2018 by strengthening the known mineral inventory and providing significant exploration upside all within a localized and accessible area of British Columbia," said StrikePoint Gold CEO Shawn Khunkhun.
Drilling in the 1990s tapped high-grade gold and silver at in the North and Wilby zones at Willoughby.
Only limited geophysics and prospecting have been carried out at Willoughby since the last hole was drilled at this Golden Triangle property. Over the ensuing 13 years, rapid deglaciation has exposed new prospective ground for exploration, including extensions to the North and Wilby zones.
A 2017 program funded by ArcWest and carried out by Millrock Resources Inc. discovered important new zones of gold and silver in bedrock recently revealed by the retreat of glaciers and snowfields.
In July, StrikePoint kicked off a 1,000-meter initial phase of 2019 drilling aimed at expanding and confirming high-grade historical intercepts at North zone.
Highlights from the past drilling at North include 5.5 meters of 53.2 grams per metric ton gold and 211.1 g/t silver; three meters of 113.7 g/t gold and 121.8 g/t silver; 2.9 meters of 352.2 g/t gold and 194.6 g/t silver; and 3.5 meters of 120.3 g/t gold and 2,434.8 g/t silver.
StrikePoint said new mineralized exposure from melting glaciers, coupled with an improved understanding of the structural geological setting helped refine the drill plan.
Once the North zone drilling was complete, the company launched a second phase of drilling targeting Wilby (formerly referred to as Main), a zone about 400 meters to the southeast.
Highlights of historical intercepts from Wilby include: 6.8 meters of 20.45 g/t gold and 42.84 g/t silver; 12 meters of 12.66 g/t gold and 59.43 g/t silver; and 11.7 meters of 7.62 g/t gold and 1.43 g/t silver.
"StrikePoint's goal is to demonstrate that the mineralized system is more extensive than previously indicated," Khunkhun said of the drilling at Wilby.
The company's Porter property hosts historic silver high-grade mines that date back to the dawn of the 20th century.
Roughly 27,123 metric tons of ore averaging 2,542 g/t silver and 1 g/t gold was mined from this vein system between 1929 and 1931, producing roughly 2.2 million ounces of silver.
StrikePoint believes the ore mined from Prosperity-Porter Idaho and Silverado, a smaller high-grade silver mine on the north side of Mount Rainey, could represent opposite ends of a larger mineralized system. Recent glacial retreat has exposed the ground between these past producing mine sites, providing the opportunity to explore for a connection between the deposits.
According to a resource estimate prepared in 2012, Porter hosts 394,700 metric tons of indicated resource averaging 868 g/t silver, 3.37 percent lead and 1.41 percent zinc; and 88,900 metric tons of inferred resources grading 595 g/t (1.7 million oz) silver.
A 25-hole drill program carried out at Porter in 2018 cut high-grade silver mineralization within and beyond the historical resource.
StrikePoint's portfolio also includes three gold and silver properties in the Yukon – Pluto, Mahtin and Golden Oly.
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.
Reader Comments(0)