The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
Up to 16% copper, 14% zinc found in Keevy trend prospects North of 60 Mining News – November 12, 2021
A copper-rich massive sulfide rock sample collected from the Kiwi prospect (left) and zinc-lead-rich massive sulfide collected from the Jack Frost prospect (right).
White Rock Minerals Ltd. reported the discovery of high-grade copper and zinc, along with significant silver and gold, in rock samples collected from the Kiwi and Jack Frost targets on its 323-square-mile (836 square kilometers) Red Mountain property in Alaska.
This district-scale property hosts a wide array of base and precious metals deposits and prospects. The most advanced are the Dry Creek and WTF deposits, which host a combined 9.1 million metric tons of Australian Joint Ore Reserves Committee- (JORC) compliant inferred resource averaging 5.8% (1.17 billion pounds) zinc; 2.6% (516 million lb) lead; 0.1% (26.5 million lb) copper; 157 g/t (46.1 million oz) silver; and 0.9 g/t (260,000 oz) gold.
While early 2021 drilling focused on expanding the Dry Creek deposit, White Rock staked up ground covering a trend prospective for similar VMS mineralization along the south side of the property.
Reconnaissance exploration identified six targets along a nearly 20-kilometer (12.5 miles) stretch of this Keevy VMS trend – Lowrider, Easy Ivan, Jack Frost, Yogi, Kiwi, and Yeti.
This year's prospecting along the Keevy trend discovered massive sulfide float rich in chalcopyrite (copper mineral), sphalerite (zinc mineral), and galena (lead mineral) at Kiwi and Jack Frost, indicating their potential to host significant mineralization.
"The White Rock exploration team continue to make what could be significant discoveries along the previously unknown 30-kilometer- (19 miles) long Keevy Trend," said Quinton Hennigh, a technical advisor to White Rock Minerals. "The exceptionally high-grade nature of recent surface samples indicates this corridor could host multiple VMS deposits of similar high-grade nature to White Rock's nearby Dry Creek and West Tundra Flats deposits."
Located about 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) southwest of Dry Creek, the Kiwi prospect is defined by a 2,000-meter long east-west trending lead-zinc soil anomaly and an offset trend of multiple chalcopyrite-rich massive sulfide boulders to the south.
Highlights from the assays of rock chip float samples collected from Kiwi include:
• 16.2% copper, 3.7% lead, 0.6 g/t gold, and 316 g/t silver.
• 9.2% copper, 1.2% zinc, 1.4 g/t gold and 198 g/t silver.
• 5.9% copper, 7.1% zinc, 2.7 g/t gold and 70 g/t silver.
• 0.6% copper, 10.3% zinc, 2.8 g/t gold, and 53 g/t silver.
White Rock completed two holes this year to test the bedrock source of the mineralization discovered on surface at Kiwi.
KW21-01 tested the lead-zinc soil anomaly and intersected low-level galena and sphalerite mineralization in the down-dip position from surface soil anomalism.
KW21-02 tested a deeper position in the stratigraphy, searching for the source of the copper-rich massive sulfide float. While this hole did not encounter massive sulfide mineralization, portable XRF (x-ray fluorescence) analysis of drill core shows two zones of elevated copper anomalism.
Assays are pending for both holes.
Post-season modeling of an electromagnetic geophysical carried out this year confirms an initial interpretation that there are two discrete conductors and has identified a 400-meter-long strong conductor along strike to the east of the two drill holes completed.
"The presence of such high-grade massive sulfide mineralization at surface, proximal to a significantly strong EM conductor signal, shows the strong potential for discovery at Kiwi," said Hennigh. "Successful application of effective geophysics at Kiwi illustrates a path to developing multiple new targets for drill testing along the exciting new Keevy Trend."
Located about 2,750 meters southwest of Dry Creek, the Jack Frost prospect is defined by a 400-meter-long, west-northwest trending lead-zinc soil anomaly that is coincident with a trend of altered rock float that includes massive sulfide float that is believed to be near its source.
Highlights from the assays of rock chip float samples collected from Jack Frost include:
• 14% zinc, 17.8% lead, and 90 g/t silver.
• 12.8% zinc, 20% lead, and 285 g/t silver.
• 8.1% zinc, 2% lead, and 20 g/t silver.
One hole drilled to test the bedrock source of the anomalism, JF21-01, cut a weak zone of pyrite-sphalerite-galena associated with faulting. No massive sulfide mineralization was intersected.
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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