The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
North of 60 Mining News - July 26, 2023
Drill core from the 19.4-meter intercept in hole averaging 158 g/t silver, 11.5% zinc, and 5.3% lead.
Click on image for larger Waterpump Creek drill map.
Click on image for larger hole WPC23-0029 cross-section.
Western Alaska Minerals Corp. July 24 announced that the first assay results from its 2023 drilling at Waterpump Creek further confirm the continuity of the high-grade silver-zinc-lead mineralization within this carbonate replacement deposit on the company's Illinois Creek property about 300 miles west of Fairbanks, Alaska.
Illinois Creek is a highly mineralized property that hosts multiple deposits and targets carrying at least five different precious and base metals. This includes the past-producing Illinois Creek gold-silver mine about four miles southwest of Waterpump Creek and the Round Top porphyry copper-gold deposit about 10 miles to the northeast.
Discovered in 1982, Waterpump Creek hosts 166,000 tons of historical resource averaging 295 grams per metric ton silver, 16.1% lead, and 5.5% zinc, based on previous drilling completed by Anaconda and Novagold Resources Inc.
Since tapping 10.5 meters averaging 522 g/t silver, 22.5% zinc, and 14.5% lead in WPC21-09, the final hole of 2021, Western has significantly expanded the silver-rich mineralization to the south.
Highlights from the 2022 drilling include:
• 5.1 meters averaging 459 g/t silver, 12.1% zinc, and 14.8% lead in hole WPC22-07.
• 2.8 meters averaging 1,304 g/t silver, 2.5% zinc, and 37.1% lead in hole WPC22-13.
• 48.8 meters averaging 144 g/t silver, 9% zinc, and 5.5% lead in hole WPC22-17.
• 101.7 meters averaging 160 g/t silver, 5.4% zinc, and 5.3% lead in hole WPC22-18.
• 5.1 meters averaging 789 g/t silver, 14.9% zinc, and 22% lead in hole WPC22-21.
This year's drilling included resource delineation infill holes around holes WPC22-17, WPC22-18, and WPC22-20 at the southern end of the Waterpump Creek mineralization identified so far, as well as testing the fault-offset continuation of the high-grade silver deposit at Last Hurrah.
The company has now received assays for WPC23-0029, an infill hole drilled 28 meters east of WPC22-18. Highlights from this hole include:
• 19.4 meters averaging 158 g/t silver, 11.5% zinc, and 5.3% lead from a depth of 145.1 meters.
• 2.9 meters averaging 173 g/t silver, 13.9% zinc, and 6.7% lead from a depth of 176 meters.
A third mineralized intercept was encountered, but assays were not possible due to poor core recoveries. This hole also ended in an eight-centimeter section of mineralization consisting of sphalerite (zinc) and galena (lead). While still in this mineralization, the hole was lost at 279.2 meters, and it is unknown whether this mineralization continues at depth. Assays are pending for the core recovered at the end of the hole.
"Drilling at Waterpump Creek continues to produce impressive assay results that reinforce the high-grade nature of this part of the CRD system," said Western Alaska Minerals CEO Kit Marrs. "This infill hole in particular, expands the width by 28 meters, and contains grades and textures that closely resemble those found in WPC22-18, suggesting continuity of a major system."
Western is awaiting assays from four additional infill and expansion holes drilled at the southern end of the Waterpump Creek deposit outlined so far:
• WPC23-0030, collared from the same location as WPC22-22 and angled south to test for extensions of massive sulfide mineralization toward the Illinois Creek fault, cut two mineralized zones – 82.3 and 8.1 meters thick.
• WPC23-0031, drilled about 45 meters north of WPC22-17, cut a 3.1-meter oxidized zone with significant alteration to the dolomite host unit, further defining the western edge of Waterpump Creek mineralization.
• WPC23-0032, drilled from the same location as WPC23-30 but angled further south, confirms the location of the Illinois Creek fault, which cuts across Waterpump Creek and is believed to offset the southerly continuation of the deposit in the Last Hurrah area south of the fault.
• WPC23-0033, drilled 30 meters east of WPC22-17, cut one 6.1-meter-thick zone of mineralization.
One drill is testing for the offset of Waterpump Creek in the Big Hurrah area identified by geology, previous drill results and a geophysical anomaly.
The geophysics indicates a Waterpump Creek lookalike at Last Hurrah that extends for 1,400 meters to the south, which is roughly three times the size of the 475-meter deposit outlined so far on the north side of the fault.
To gain a better picture of the subsurface, Western contracted Dias Geophysical to carry out a 3D distributed array IP (3DIP) geophysical survey over Waterpump Creek, including the Last Hurrah target area.
This ultra-high-resolution geophysical survey is complete, and interpretation and modeling are now underway. The results from this are expected to help vector drill targeting in the Last Hurrah area.
CORRECTION (08/14/2023): This article was updated to correctly state that WPC21-09 was the final hole of 2021. The previous version incorrectly reported the year.
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.
Reader Comments(0)