The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
North of 60 Mining News - June 7, 2024
Seabridge's 2024 drill program at Iskut will test porphyry copper-gold targets along a district-scale structural trend at the Northern B.C. project.
Seabridge Gold Inc. has launched a roughly 15,000-meter drill program at its Iskut porphyry copper-gold project in British Columbia's Golden Triangle.
Iskut shows all the signs of hosting large porphyry copper deposits similar to Seabridge's world-class KSM mine project, which lies about 30 kilometers (19 miles) to the east.
The 1980s-era Johnny Mountain mine produced gold, silver, and copper from high-grade skarn mineralization.
The Bronson Slope deposit, which lies adjacent to Johnny Mountain, hosts 187 million metric tons of measured and indicated resources averaging 0.36 grams per metric ton gold and 0.12% copper, based on drilling carried out prior to Seabridge's 2016 Iskut acquisition.
Seabridge says regional geophysical surveys and surface geology have confirmed a district-scale structural corridor that connects Bronson Slope with the Quartz Rise and Snip North targets. Substantial high-level expressions of a porphyry copper-gold system fall along this regional trend.
Last year, Seabridge carried out deep drilling at Bronson Slope and Snip North. Highlights from this program include:
• 252 meters averaging 0.61 g/t gold, 0.07% copper, and 1.36 g/t silver in hole SN-23-04 (Snip North).
• 277 meters averaging 0.8 g/t gold, 0.07% copper, and 1.19 g/t silver in hole SN-23-05 (Snip North).
• 437.3 meters averaging 0.36 g/t gold, 0.03% copper, and 6.1 g/t silver in hole SBS-23-17 (Bronson Slope).
• 551.8 meters averaging 0.36 g/t gold, 0.02% copper, and 2.6 g/t silver in hole SBS-23-18 (Bronson Slope).
• 252 meters averaging 0.87 g/t gold, 0.02% copper, and 29.2 g/t silver in hole SBS-23-19 (Bronson Slope).
• 320.4 meters averaging 0.49 g/t gold, 0.03% copper, and 3.1 g/t silver in hole SBS-23-21 (Bronson Slope).
Seabridge is incorporating the results from its drilling into an updated resource for the Bronson Slope deposit, which is expected to be completed later this month.
"Last year's expansion of the Bronson Slope mineral resource and the new discoveries at Snip North have given us clear direction on where to focus our efforts," said Seabridge Gold Chairman and CEO Rudi Fronk. "These intrusive targets appear to be embedded in a district-scale structural trend that is similar in strike and width to our nearby KSM deposits."
The company will test these targets this year with a C$12 million (US$8.8 million) program that will involve three helicopter-portable drill rigs testing for source intrusions at Iskut.
"This year's work is dedicated to realizing the porphyry potential we had in mind when we acquired the Iskut project," Fronk added.
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)