The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
North of 60 Mining News - November 12, 2024
The Dry Creek area of Silver47's aptly named Red Mountain silver-zinc project in Alaska.
Silver47 holds three silver-rich properties within the North American Cordillera.
Outcropping mineralization at the Horseshoe target toward the western end of Red Mountain.
Hole MCH-22-002 cut 15.2 meters averaging 907.1 g/t silver at the Silver Matt Target.
Backed by big names in mineral exploration investment, Silver47 Exploration Corp. has emerged on the Alaska scene with a mission to significantly expand upon the 168.6 million ounces of silver-equivalent outlined so far at Red Mountain, a polymetallic volcanogenic massive sulfide project about 60 miles (100 kilometers) south of Fairbanks.
"The objective of the company is to rapidly grow its resource base toward a milestone development decision while generating new discoveries," said Silver47 Exploration CEO Gary Thompson, who also serves as chairman for Northern British Columbia-focused Brixton Metals Corp.
The 942 state mining claims and one mining lease held by Silver47 cover a 35-mile- (60 kilometers) trend of silver, zinc, lead, gold, and copper mineralization.
Silver47's initial focus is on expanding the silver-rich Dry Creek and West Tundra Flats projects toward the eastern end of this district-scale land package.
According to a mineral resource calculated for Silver47 earlier this year, these two deposits about 1.7 miles (2.7 kilometers) apart host a combined 15.6 million metric tons of inferred resource averaging 71.4 grams per metric ton (35.9 million oz) silver, 0.43 g/t (214,000 oz) gold, 3.4% (1.17 billion pounds) zinc, 1.4% (476 million lb) lead, and 0.17% (57 million lb) copper.
When you combine the value of all the metals, this equates to 168.7 million oz of silver-equivalent in mineralization averaging 335.7 g/t silver-equivalent.
Silver47 believes the 37,378 meters of past drilling has only scratched the surface at Red Mountain. An exploration target hosting 500 million to 900 million oz of silver in mineralization with similar grades to the current deposit has been identified on the property.
VMS deposits such as Dry Creek and West Tundra Flats are formed when sulfur and metals-rich fluids are emitted on the ocean floor. When the hot fluids from these "black smokers" meet, the cold ocean water deposits rich in silver, zinc, lead, and other metals are formed. These VMS deposits typically form in clusters and stack up over the eons.
At least 20 VMS and similar targets with various amounts of exploration have been identified across the larger land package.
The outlying prospects at Red Mountain include Galleon, a high-grade silver prospect about 4.5 miles (7.5 kilometers) north of the Dry Creek deposit, where samples with grades as high as 1,265 g/t silver, 2.1 g/t gold, and 5% zinc-lead have been collected.
Previous mapping, trenching, prospecting, and geophysics have refined targets at Galleon that South47 plans to drill next year.
Horseshoe, a sedimentary exhalative (SEDEX) about 25 miles (40 kilometers) west of Dry Creek, is also on the docket for 2025 drilling.
SEDEX deposits are also formed when hydrothermal fluids rich in metals are released onto the seafloor, but the minerals are deposited between layers of fine-grained mud, sand, and silt. SEDEX deposits often host high-grade zinc, such as those mined at the Red Dog operation in Northwest Alaska.
Rock samples collected from the Horseshoe SEDEX prospect have demonstrated more zinc-rich mineralization than the VMS deposits outlined so far at Red Mountain. Highlights include:
Outcropping mineralization at the Horseshoe target toward the western end of Red Mountain.
• 37.9 g/t silver, 3.81 g/t gold, 4.6% zinc, and 2.6% lead.
• 27 g/t silver, 3.61 g/t gold, 5% zinc, and 2.4% lead.
• 12.2 g/t silver, 0.14 g/t gold, 8.3% zinc, and 2.2% lead.
• 44.2 g/t silver, 0.2 g/t gold, 2.9% zinc, and 2.5% lead.
Silver47 also plans to refine drill targets at Sheep Creek, a high-grade silver target about two miles (three kilometers) northwest of Horseshoe with some intriguing tin values.
Rock samples with as much as 306 g/t silver have been collected from Sheep Creek, and one hole drilled there in 1977 is reported to have cut two meters averaging 1.2% tin.
Silver47 plans to carry out soil sampling and trenching during the 2025 season to gain a better understanding of the extent of mineralized horizons at Sheep Creek and refine targets for drilling.
While Red Mountain is Silver47's flagship, the silver-focused exploration company's portfolio also includes the Michelle silver-lead-zinc-gallium-antimony project located in the Yukon and the Adams Plateau silver-zinc-lead-copper project located in southern British Columbia.
Silver47 picked up Michelle from Silver Range Resources Ltd. in 2021 and has already carried out drilling there.
Lying about 80 miles (130 kilometers) northeast of Dawson City, Yukon, Michelle is a 61-square-mile (158 square kilometers) project that covers 23 known targets enriched with silver, zinc, lead, gallium, vanadium, indium, antimony, and copper.
Rock samples collected from Michell have returned grades as high as 48.6% zinc, 82.8% lead, 4,180 g/t silver, and 1,120 parts per million gallium.
Historical drilling at the project has also cut 18.29 meters averaging 16.75% zinc, 8.86% lead, and 310 g/t silver over 18.29 meters at the Gully zone; and 2.96 meters averaging 0.55% zinc, 15.18% lead, and 2,134 g/t silver at the Peak Zone.
Furthermore, historical diamond drilling, which concentrated on two occurrences, returned 16.75% zinc, 8.86% lead, and 310 g/t silver over 18.29 meters at the Gully zone, and 0.55% zinc, 15.18% lead and 2,134 g/t silver over 2.96 meters at the Peak zone.
Hole MCH-22-002 cut 15.2 meters averaging 907.1 g/t silver at the Silver Matt Target.
Silver47 discovered the Silver Matt target at Michelle with a 2021 reverse circulation hole (MCH21-005) that cut 19.8 meters averaging 556 g/t silver, 20.3% lead, and 3.16% zinc.
A follow-up core hole in 2022 (MCH-22-002) cut 15 meters averaging 907 g/t silver, 26% lead, and 2.7% zinc.
While Silver47 has permits for 60,000 meters of drilling at Michelle, work has been delayed due to a flawed Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Board (YESAB) no-go decision in late 2022.
The company has joined a petition filed by the Yukon government for a judicial review of the decision. A hearing on the petition is currently scheduled for Nov. 24.
Silver47, however, did carry out exploration this year on its Adams Plateau silver-lead-zinc-copper-gold project about 60 miles (100 kilometers) northeast of Kamloops, B.C.
Exploration of this road-accessible project dates back to 1925. Highlights from historical drilling include:
• 4.8 meters of 348 g/t silver, 0.72 g/t gold, 2.7% lead-zinc at the Spar target.
• 3.66 meters of 180 g/t silver, 8.1% lead-zinc at the Lucky showing.
Rock samples collected by Silver47 contain grades as high as 3,503 g/t silver, 1 g/t gold, and 29% lead-zinc; and 1,380 g/t silver, 6.5 g/t gold, and 25% lead-zinc.
This year's exploration at Adams Plateau focused on expanding geochemical anomalies and identifying drill-ready targets for 2025.
Silver47 holds three silver-rich properties within the North American Cordillera.
With three projects in its portfolio and C$4 million in its treasury (as of July 31) from investments from shareholders like Eric Sprott and Crescat Capital, Silver47 will begin trading on the TSX Venture Exchange under the ticker symbol "AGA" on the open of trading on Nov. 14.
"We are excited to bring Silver47 to the market at a time when silver and gold prices have made tremendous moves higher this year," said Thompson.
With solar consuming nearly 142 million oz of silver per year, a number that is expected to top 200 million oz per year by 2030, tight zinc markets propping up the price for the galvanizing metals, and push for North American supplies of the critical minerals, the precious and critical metals found on Silver47 properties are expected to be hot commodities over the coming years.
"Silver47 is well positioned to capitalize on this rising demand trend in metals," the company's CEO 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.
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