The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
North of 60 Mining News - November 15, 2024
Silver North Resources Ltd. Nov. 14 announced results from its 2024 drilling campaign at the Haldane property in Yukon, including the discovery of multiple high-grade silver-bearing structures at the Main Fault, elevating it to a high-priority target for future exploration.
Located about 22 kilometers (14 miles) west of Hecla Mining Company's Keno Hill silver mine, the 8,164-hectare (20,174 acres) road-accessible Haldane property has a history of high-grade silver mineralization dating back more than a century.
Rebranding in March from Alianza Minerals to reflect its focus on the precious metal necessary for the clean energy transition, Silver North has directed its exploration efforts to its predominantly silver properties to better align with its new vision.
For the 2024 drilling program at Haldane, Silver North planned up to six diamond drill holes, totaling approximately 1,000 meters, to extend high-grade silver mineralization at the West Fault target.
The program focused on testing the fault's southwest plunge with 50-meter step-outs, as well as exploring greater depths below the level of oxidation to intersect the Main Fault, a significant structure identified in previous surface work.
Following these plans, Silver North successfully intersected the Main Fault, revealing wide structural zones containing Keno-style quartz-siderite veins and breccias, characteristic of high-grade silver deposits in the district.
Now, with assays available, the company has confirmed high-grade mineralization at the Main Fault, marking it as a significant new silver target for the Haldane project.
Highlights from Main Fault drilling include:
• 15.8 meters (13.75 meters true width) averaging 157 grams per metric ton silver, 0.08 g/t gold, 1.42% lead, and 0.67% zinc from a depth of 146.2 meters in hole HLD24-29, including 3.5 meters (3.05 meters true width) averaging 460 g/t silver, 0.15 g/t gold, 4.34% lead, and 1.23% zinc.
• 2.5 meters (1.83 meters true width) averaging 1,088 g/t silver, 3.90 g/t gold, 1.89% lead, and 0.63% zinc from 159 meters in HLD24-30, including 7.95 meters (5.81 meters true width) averaging 365 g/t silver, 0.23 g/t gold, 1.80% lead, and 1.37% zinc.
• 0.38 meters (0.19 meters true width) averaging 122 g/t silver, 0.17 g/t gold, 2.07% lead, and 0.48% zinc from 243.71 meters in HLD24-28.
"We consider this a new drill discovery at the Main Fault defined by multiple high grade silver intersections over three separate vein – fault zones," said Silver North President and CEO Jason Weber. "The continuity demonstrated over the 50 metres between holes, and the increased grades and thicknesses encountered down dip in HLD24-30 are extremely encouraging."
The recent drill results also highlight an important increase in both grade and thickness encountered down dip in hole HLD24-30 compared to previous data, reinforcing the prioritization of the Main Fault as a key target moving forward.
Notably, these intersections contained unusually high gold values compared to other zones within the Haldane property. However, the mineralogy associated with this elevated gold content remains unclear due to the oxidized nature of these intersections, presenting both a challenge and an opportunity for ongoing studies aimed at better understanding this anomaly.
Building on these findings, Silver North plans to undertake further metallurgical studies to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the mineralogy and to better define the potential economic viability of the Main Fault.
The company also aims to use these insights to inform a more focused drill program in 2025, targeting areas with higher grades and improved continuity. The next phase of exploration will also include geophysical surveys and surface sampling to refine drill targets and further enhance the resource model at Haldane.
"We can now elevate the Main Fault to an important silver target where we can potentially delineate new silver resources along with the West Fault target," said Weber. "We will continue to refine our interpretation of these new results to optimize an aggressive drill program to test the Main Fault in 2025."
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