The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
North of 60 Mining News - January 7, 2025
Core from a high-grade section of DV24-21, a resource expansion hole drilled at the Wolf deposit.
The Kitsault Valley project includes the silver-rich Dolly Varden deposits at the south end and more gold-forward Homestake deposits to the north.
Dolly Varden Silver Corp. Jan. 7 reported results from drilling that continue to trace the Wolf deposit toward Torbrit, the largest silver deposit identified so far on the company's Kitsault Valley project in Northern British Columbia.
Lying about 25 miles (40 kilometers) southeast of Stewart, B.C., Kitsault Valley is the amalgamation of Dolly Varden's namesake silver property and the adjacent Homestake Ridge gold-silver property that it acquired from Fury Gold Mines in 2022.
The Kitsault Valley project includes the silver-rich Dolly Varden deposits at the south end and more gold-forward Homestake deposits to the north.
Four deposits on the Dolly Varden end of Kitsault Valley – Dolly Varden, Torbrit, North Star, and Wolf – host 3.42 million metric tons of indicated resource averaging 299.8 grams per metric ton (32.93 million ounces) silver; plus 1.29 million metric tons of inferred resource averaging 277 g/t (11.45 million oz) silver.
Homestake Ridge hosts three deposits – Homestake Main, Homestake Silver, and South Reef – with 736,000 metric tons of indicated resource averaging 7.02 g/t (165,993 oz) gold and 74.8 g/t (1.8 million oz) silver; plus 5.55 million metric tons of inferred resource averaging 4.58 g/t (816,719 oz) gold and 100 g/t (17.8 million oz) silver.
More than half of the 32,000 meters of drilling completed by Dolly Varden last year targeted the Homestake Silver deposit and surrounding area. Highlights from the 2024 Homestake Silver drilling include:
• 48.2 meters averaging 8.85 g/t gold and 5 g/t silver in hole HR24-432.
• 100.8 meters averaging 4.64 g/t gold and 38 g/t silver in hole HR24-435.
• 10 meters averaging 4.58 g/t gold in hole HR24-442.
These high-grade intercepts are from infilling a gap in previous drilling, indicating the potential to increase both the grade and size of the Homestake Silver Resource.
The balance of the company's 2024 resource upgrade and expansion drill targeted Wolf, the northmost silver deposit at the Dolly Varden end of Kitsault Valley.
Wolf, which hosts 402,000 metric tons of indicated resource averaging 297 g/t (3.8 million oz) silver, and Torbrit, which hosts 2.62 million tons of 297 g/t (25 million oz) silver, plunge toward each other, indicating a connection at depth.
In August, Dolly Varden reported that its 2024 drilling continues to trace the Wolf deposit deeper and in the direction of Torbrit.
Highlights from the previously released 2024 holes drilled at Wolf include:
• 9.4 meters averaging 1,091 g/t silver, 1.4% zinc, and 1.35% lead in hole DV24-404.
• 27.2 meters averaging 513 g/t silver, 1.82% zinc, and 2.95% lead in hole DV24-408.
• 6.2 meters averaging 606 g/t silver, 1.43% zinc, and 0.61% lead in hole DV24-412.
• 3.8 meters averaging 771 g/t silver, 2.29% zinc, and 2.93% lead in hole DV24-414.
• 21.5 meters averaging 654 g/t silver, 0.57% zinc, and 0.47% lead in hole DV24-416.
The latest batch of Kitsault Valley assays include results from the final 13 holes drilled at Wolf last year. Highlights include:
• 7. 7 meters averaging 465 g/t silver, 0.22% zinc, and 0.49% lead in hole DV24-406.
• 9.7 meters averaging 374 g/t silver, 0.82% zinc, and 0.54% lead in hole DV24-413.
• 9.2 meters averaging 357 g/t silver, 0.41% zinc, and 0.52% lead in hole DV24-415.
• 21.7 meters averaging 379 g/t silver, 0.66% zinc, and 0.64% lead in hole DV24-421.
Dolly Varden is particularly excited about the wide widths of strong silver mineralization cut by hole DV24-421, which is a 120-meter step-out down-plunge and in the direction of Torbrit.
"At Wolf, we continue to expand the extent of strong mineralization, veining and alteration as we get closer to the Torbrit Silver deposit, located 1,000 meters to the south," said Dolly Varden Silver CEO Shawn Khunkhun.
In addition to the final batch of results from Wolf, Dolly Varden reported the results from 17 exploration holes drilled across the wider Kitsault Valley project last year.
The company says significant results from exploration drilling at the North Star deposit and the Red Point prospect, which lie adjacent to the Torbrit deposit and associated Kitsol target, warrant follow-up drilling during the 2025 program.
On hole drilled at North Star last year, cut three meters averaging 432 g/t silver, 5.28% zinc, and 1.39% lead.
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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