Fireweed starts largest drill program ever

Fireweed Metals Corp. June 6 announced the start of a planned 16,000-meter drill program at Macmillan Pass in Yukon, Canada, which will be its largest-ever drill program with the goal of expanding the zinc-rich zones at its flagship property.

"We are off to a great start and look forward to a game-changing season ahead," said Fireweed Metals CEO Brandon Macdonald. "We are on track to complete the largest ever drill program Fireweed has carried out at Macmillan Pass."

Considering the explosive growth the company experienced, the excitement is palpable over what this multi-metallic energy metal company will accomplish next.

You can read about Fireweed Metals' incredible 2022 year at Fireweed is prepped for a new banner year in the February 3, 2023 edition of North of 60 Mining News.

A road-accessible project adjacent to Yukon's border with Northwest Territories, the 940-square-kilometer (363 square miles) Macmillan Pass project blankets a roughly 55-kilometer (34 miles) trend of zinc, lead, silver, and copper mineralization.

The two more advanced deposits on this district-scale property – Tom and Jason – host 11.2 million metric tons of indicated resource averaging 6.59% (1.63 billion pounds) zinc, 2.48% (620 million lb) lead, and 21.33 grams per metric ton (7.7 million ounces) silver; plus 39.5 million metric tons of inferred resource averaging 5.84% (5.08 billion lb) zinc, 3.14% (2.73 billion lb) lead, and 38.15 g/t (48.4 million oz) silver.

This resource, calculated in 2018, does not include additional resource expansion drilling completed at Tom and Jason, nor the impressive drill intercepts encountered in the Boundary and Boundary West zones that lie about 15 road-kilometers (nine miles) to the west.

The 2023 program will utilize five diamond drill rigs, targeting over 16,000 meters of drilling between Boundary, Tom, and Jason – more than double the roughly 7,000 meters drilled in 2022.

With the initial phase of drilling already underway, the 2023 drilling is focused on stepping out from the high-grade intersections drilled at Boundary in 2022, such as holes NB22-023 which intersected 298 meters averaging 4.5% zinc, 1.4% lead, and 30.9 g/t silver, including a new stratiform zone that cut 9.6 meters averaging 24.5% zinc, 15.1 lead, and 323.2 g/t silver.

This year's Boundary zone step outs will include testing the potential continuation of the high-grade stratiform mineralization and massive sulfide mineralization at Boundary West and Boundary Main. The company also believes that it has identified an area between these that has geological potential to host a high-grade feeder zone flanked by two of its best-ever drill holes at Boundary, NB22-002 and NB22-023.

To prepare for the expansive drill program, Fireweed plans to expand its camp to accommodate nearly 50 people on site. With construction well underway at the new 48-person camp, the all-weather expansion will allow the company to support roughly 100 people on-site to complete this year's goals.

Eventually, this work is just the start of building out Macmillan Pass' camp to the targeted capacity of 150 people, which will allow for ever larger drill programs and simultaneous environmental baseline work while also enabling extension of the operating season by several months.

"The first drill rig is turning and we are preparing to receive four more drill rigs once the road to site is opened," said Macdonald. "It's busy times and exciting times; and with a healthy treasury of over $30 million, 2023 is shaping up to be a banner year for Fireweed."