The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
Core will be used for Cardiac Creek metallurgical test work North of 60 Mining News – September 24, 2021
A helicopter at Bear Valley, one of the many zinc-lead-silver prospect areas found along ZincX' 140-kilometer- (87 miles) long Kechika regional properties in Northern British Columbia.
ZincX Resources Corp. Sept. 23 announced that assay results show that the first hole of its 2021 drill program cut a broad envelope of zinc-lead-silver mineralization at the Cardiac Creek deposit on the company's Kechika properties, an expansive land package that covers a 140-kilometer- (87 miles) long stretch of the Kechika Trough in Northern British Columbia.
The Kechika regional project encompasses 11 properties that stretch northwest from Akie – (from south to north) Pie, Cirque East, Yuen, Yuen North, Mt. Alcock, Kwad, Weiss, Bear-Spa, Driftpile South, Saint, and Thro.
The Cardiac Creek deposit at Akie, the most advanced of the properties fully owned by ZincX, hosts 22.7 million metric tons of indicated resource averaging 8.32% (4.16 billion pounds) zinc, 1.61% (804 million lb) lead, and 14.1 grams per metric ton (10.3 million ounces) silver; and 7.5 million metric tons of inferred resource averaging 7.04% (1.17 billion lb) zinc; 1.24% (205 million lb) lead, and 12 g/t (2.9 million oz) silver.
A 2018 preliminary economic assessment for the Cardiac Creek deposit on Akie envisions a 4,000-metric ton underground mine providing ore for a 3,000-metric-ton-per-day mill that is expected to produce 3.27 billion lb of zinc and 362 million lb of lead over an initial 18-year mine life.
ZincX says all five holes completed this summer at Cardiac Creek cut thick intervals of sphalerite-galena-barite mineralization.
The first hole of this program, A-21-155, cut 39.7 meters averaging 4.46% zinc, 0.80% lead, and 8.46 g/t silver from a depth of 549.4 meters; including 10.5 meters averaging 7.16% zinc, 1.42% lead, and 8.58 g/t silver from 583.7 meters.
This hole also cut 6.6 meters averaging 7.68% zinc, 1.31% lead, and 12.25 g/t silver in the Cardiac Creek Footwall zone, starting at a depth of 602.2 meters.
The Cardiac Creek Zone is characterized by thick beds of sulfides comprised of laminar pyrite (iron mineral) and banded sphalerite (zinc mineral). Locally, the sphalerite bands display a well-developed "mottled" texture that is due to an enrichment in sphalerite with interstitial carbonate and quartz with galena (lead minerals). The sulfides are interbedded with the host black carbonaceous, siliceous shales of the Gunsteel Formation, an assemblage that is the primary host of mineralization with the Kechika Trough.
The Footwall Zone is characterized by a similar style of mineralization to the Cardiac Creek zone. ZincX reports that a massive sulfide lens was also encountered below the Footwall zone that is enriched in pyrite, sphalerite, and galena. A 3.75-meter intercept of this lens averaged 2.17% zinc, 0.34% lead, and 2.6 g/t silver.
The primary objective of the 2021 drill program was to acquire fresh mineralized drill core samples for advanced metallurgical testing. This material will be used to further investigate previous metallurgical testing of the mineralization with a focus on enhancing the recoveries and boosting concentrate grades for both zinc and lead; using a state-of-the-art metallurgical testing facility owned by Non-Ferrous Metals of China (Tongling), a key shareholder of ZincX.
This metallurgical testing will begin after the final assay results have been received and tabulated for test composites.
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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