The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
North of 60 Mining News – November 18, 2022
Skeena plans to incorporate results from 68,543 meters of drilling completed since September 2021 into future resource and economic updates for Eskay Creek.
Click on image for larger 21A and 21A West Zone cross-section.
Skeena Resources Ltd. Nov. 17 announced that drilling continues to cut strong gold mineralization in an area previously considered as barren waste rock at the southwest end of the proposed open pit gold mine in British Columbia's Golden Triangle.
In September, Skeena published the results of a feasibility study that details an open pit mining operation at Eskay Creek that would produce 2.42 million ounces of gold and 66.7 million oz of silver over an initial nine years of mining
This mine is based on the 46.5 million metric tons of open pit minable measured and indicated resources averaging 2.6 grams per metric ton (5.2 million oz) gold and 63.2 g/t (94.6 million oz) silver outlined at Eskay Creek prior to the study.
Further details on the feasibility study can be read at Study affirms robust Eskay Creek Mine in the September 9, 2022 edition of North of 60 Mining News.
This year's drilling, however, is cutting mineralization at the southwest end of the current open pit that will likely both extend the gold mineralization and upgrade rocks that were considered waste to ore. This is especially true for 21A West, an extension of the 21A Zone at the southwest end of the pit considered in the feasibility study.
Highlights from previously released assays from 2022 drilling at 21A West include:
• 46.77 meters averaging 1.74 g/t gold and 1.7 g/t silver from a depth of 174.9 meters in hole SK-22-1028.
• 12.12 meters averaging 47.5 g/t gold and 73.4 g/t silver from a depth of 40.9 meters in hole SK-22-1093.
• 24 meters averaging 20.43 g/t gold and 175.2 g/t silver from a depth of 44 meters in hole SK-22-1122.
Skeena says the high-grade gold encountered in holes SK-22-1093 and SK-22-1122 has extended the near-surface, rhyolite-hosted mineralization within an area of the intended pit that was previously modeled as waste rock.
The latest batch of assays include results from two additional holes drilled at 21A West:
• 21.8 meters averaging 3.08 g/t gold and 32.9 g/t silver from a depth of 15.2 meters in hole SK-22-1103.
• 17.2 meters averaging 7.73 g/t gold and 16.8 g/t silver from a depth of 14 meters in hole SK-22-1131.
Skeena says these results contributed to the continued expansion and validation of 21A West Zone, which remains open for expansion both down-dip and along strike.
The company plans to incorporate results from the 68,543 meters of exploration drilling completed since September 2021 into future resource and economic updates for 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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