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The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
Expected to bolster economics for open pit mine at 22 Zone North of 60 Mining News – January 8, 2021
The 2020 drilling encountered a new zone of surfacing gold-silver mineralization at 22 Zone on Skeena's Eskay Creek mine project in British Columbia's Golden Triangle.
Skeena Resources Ltd. Jan. 6 reported additional high-grade gold and silver intercepts at its Eskay Creek mine project in Northern British Columbia, including a previous undiscovered area of at surface mineralization that could increase resource tonnage and reduce the strip ratio at 22 Zone.
Located about 1,000 meters southwest of the five contiguous zones that make up the primary resource area at Eskay Creek, 22 Zone is envisioned to be mined from a separate open pit.
A 2019 resource calculation, which served as the basis for a preliminary economic assessment on establishing an open pit mine at Eskay Creek, only included widely spaced historical drill holes for the southeastern portion of 22 Zone.
Skeena's recent infill drilling at 22 Zone has discovered gold-silver mineralization that comes to the surface within the resource pit considered in the PEA.
This new discovery is highlighted by hole SK-20-481, which cut 26.3 meters averaging 3.05 grams per metric ton gold and 221 g/t silver from a depth of 1.2 meters. This longer interval includes 1.4 meters averaging 7.82 g/t gold and 724 g/t silver from 16.7 meters, and 1.5 meters averaging 3.18 g/t gold and 2,210 g/t silver from 18 meters.
Other holes that tapped this shallow mineralization include SK-20-437, which cut 21 meters averaging 1.49 g/t gold and 71 g/t silver from 6.5 meters; and SK-20-438, which cut 13 meters averaging 1.58 g/t gold and 118 g/t silver from 3.5 meters.
"This new discovery within the pit-constrained 22 Zone resource model was originally considered an area of unmineralized waste due to a lack of drilling and as such was not incorporated into Skeena's 2019 PEA," said Skeena Resources Vice President of Exploration Paul Geddes. "The grade and location of these recent intersections are expected to translate into additional resources when the 2020 drilling data is incorporated into the new resource model during Q1 2021."
In addition to the newly discovered surfacing mineralization, drills continued to tap the previously known mineralization at 22 Zone. Highlights include:
• 14.5 meters averaging 4.44 g/t gold and 228 g/t silver from a depth of 146.1 meters in SK-20-500.
• 9.9 meters averaging 12.94 g/t gold and 503 g/t silver from a depth of 145.1 meters in SK-20-507.
Skeena also reported additional results from drilling in the 21 B and C zones in the main resource area at Eskay Creek. Highlights from these holes include:
• 19.4 meters averaging 3.23 g/t gold and 9 g/t silver in SK-20-483.
• 31.1 meters averaging 2.82 g/t gold and 10 g/t silver in SK-20-484.
• 28.7 meters averaging 5.34 g/t gold and 7 g/t silver in SK-20-486.
• 25.7 meters averaging 3.65 g/t gold and 5 g/t silver in SK-20-494.
The company currently has six drill rigs finalizing the phase 2 resource upgrade program at Eskay Creek. The results from phase 2 drilling will be incorporated into an updated mineral resource estimate, which will form the basis for a prefeasibility study slated for completion by mid-year.
Once phase 2 drilling is complete, expected in the next few days, the drills will be re-assigned to a 5,000-meter exploratory program to test targets near the resource area at Eskay Creek.
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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