Mining News: Northern Neighbors: Skeena to add resource, test new Spectrum targets

Skeena Resources Ltd. May 9 unveiled plans for a 10,000-meter drill program this year at its Spectrum gold-copper project in northwestern British Columbia. Roughly 6,000 meters of this drilling will focus on expanding the Central Zone, which hosts 8.95 million metric tons of indicated resource averaging 1.04 grams per metric ton (290,000 ounces) gold, 6.58 g/t (1.82 million oz.) silver and 0.11 percent (20.835 million pounds) copper. Additionally, the deposit hosts 22.63 million metric tons of inferred resource averaging 1.03 g/t (750,000 oz.) gold, 3.85 g/t (2.8 million oz.) silver and 0.11 (54.89 million lbs.) copper. Skeena said a review of the drilling it completed last year along with historical drill results indicates that a newly recognized panel of porphyry gold-copper mineralization partially overlaps and occurs west of the Central Zone resource and is open to the west, south and north. “We believe there is tremendous potential to increase the maiden resource we announced at Spectrum on April 25, 2016,” said Skeena President and CEO Walter Coles Jr. “We now have a better understanding of the geological controls, and therefore believe that we should be able to add ounces much more efficiently this season compared to 2015.” Outside of the Central zone, the company has completed a property-wide compilation of drill, trench, prospecting and soil results. This effort outlined several promising areas with potential for building additional high-grade and bulk tonnage resources. Up to 4,000 meters of drilling is planned to target some of these outlying prospects. High-priority exploration targets include: 300 Colour Zone, a strong gold-in-soil anomaly where one hole drilled last year cut 52 meters grading 1.15 g/t gold; Road-Boundary, an area about 125 meters east of Central Zone where a 2015 drill hole cut 1.14 meters grading 10.5 g/t gold; Fog, a soil anomaly in the western part of the property where one historic hole cut 40.8 meters grading 1.03 g/t gold; and the Far West copper-molybdenum soil anomaly. In additional to drilling, Skeena will complete additional bench-scale metallurgical studies; baseline environmental and archaeological studies; and permitting and engineering studies to support future economic and technical evaluations. Community outreach has begun on the company’s projects, which are all located in the traditional territory of the Tahltan First Nation.

- Shane Lasley