The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
Assays confirm, expand mineralized zones seen in WPC22-22 North of 60 Mining News – December 9, 2022
Under ultraviolet light, the massive sulfide mineralization in core from drilling at Waterpump Creek glows bright red against the duller purple color of the carbonate host rock.
WPC22-22 cut three bands of massive sulfides about 50 meters south of the interpreted feeder zone encountered in WPC22-18. Western's 2023 drilling will test what appears to be the continuation of wide mineralized zones to the south.
Western Alaska Minerals Corp. Dec. 7 reported that assays confirm that drill hole WPC22-22 cut three horizons of high-grade silver-zinc lead mineralization at the Waterpump Creek carbonate replacement deposit on the company's Illinois Creek property about 300 miles west of Fairbanks, Alaska.
"The overall grades in this hole are outstanding with some exceptional intervals with silver grades up to 39 oz/ton in one of the internal zones," said Western Alaska Minerals CEO Kit Marrs.
In August, Western announced that visual observations of the core identified three horizons of sulfide mineralization encountered by hole WPC22-22. The assay results, however, showed that the lower two bands of silver-zinc-lead mineralization were wider than reposted based on the visual evidence.
Highlights from the assays returned from WPC22-22 include:
• 22.7 meters averaging 293 grams per metric ton (9.4 ounces per metric ton) silver, 20.3% zinc, and 9% lead from a depth of 161.6 meters.
• 9.5 meters averaging 118 g/t (3.8 oz/t) silver, 8.7% zinc, and 3.5% lead from a depth of 207 meters.
• 54.6 meters averaging 187 g/t (6 oz/t) silver, 6.2% zinc, and 5.1% lead from a depth of 245.7 meters.
The 54.6-meter lower horizon included a 3.5-meter subsection averaging 1,223 g/t (39.3 oz/t) silver, 8.1% zinc, and 32.5% lead.
"These three high-grade intercepts total over 86 meters in composite thickness and tie together with similar mineralization in ten other holes to give us 400 meters of continuous high-grade mineralization linked to the sulfide chimney cut in WPC22-18," Marrs added.
Hole WPC22-18, which was drilled 50 meters north of WPC22-22, cut 101.7 meters of continuous mineralization averaging 160 g/t (5.1 oz/t) silver, 5.4% zinc, and 5.3% lead.
Western says the high-grade intercepts in hole WPC22-22 appear to correspond with similar to high-grade zones encountered in WPC22-18.
A similar observation was made for hole WPC22-20, which cut two mineralized horizons about 25 meters east of WPC22-22 – 11.4 meters averaging 284 g/t (9.1 oz/t) silver, 14.8% zinc, and 10.9% lead from a depth of 166.6 meters; and 20.7 meters averaging 171 g/t (5.5 oz/t) silver, 9.4% zinc, and 5.8% lead from 185.2 meters.
The company says its first 23 holes drilled at Waterpump Creek have traced a 30- to 75-meter-wide manto (ribbon) of massive sulfide mineralization for over 400 meters along strike that appears to have been fed by a chimney encountered in hole WPC22-18.
The three emerging bands of high-grade silver-lead-zinc mineralization in WPC22-22 extend the lower mineralized zone 75 meters south of WPC22-18 and suggest it continues to thicken in that direction. This could indicate another source or mineralizing fluid upwelling zone down dip to the south.
Western plans to continue tracing the Waterpump Creek carbonate-hosted deposit with a 15,000- to 25,000-meter drill program slated for 2023 at Illinois Creek.
"All the signs indicate this is part of a major CRD system and we can't wait to start the 2023 drill season and continue tracing this mineralization south where we think these zones coalesce and become thicker," said Marrs.
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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