Mining News: Northern Neighbors: Skeena cuts deal for high-grade silver property near Stewart, BC

Skeena Resources Ltd. Aug. 9 signed a definitive agreement to acquire Mount Rainey Silver Inc., a private company that owns the 46 mineral claims covering the past-producing, underground Prosperity-Porter Idaho-Silverado silver property in the Golden Triangle of northwest British Columbia. The Porter Idaho project has two known silver-bearing vein systems about 2,000 meters apart on opposite sides of Mount Rainey with a surface portion of the intervening terrain masked by the icefield capping the mountain. All veins have the same strike, are intimately associated as splays off the well-delineated Silverado Fault and remain open at depth. Skeena said newly exposed surface mineralization due to the shrinking icefield may further indicate the apparent structural continuity between the two vein systems. According to a resource estimated prepared for Mount Rainey Silver in 2012, Porter Idaho has 394,700 metric tons of indicated resource averaging 868 g/t silver (11 million ounces) silver, 3.37 percent lead and 1.41 percent zinc; and 88,900 metric tons of inferred resources grading 595 g/t(1.7 million ounces) silver. While this resource was independently calculated using industry standards, Skeena is treating it as historical and is determining what work needs to be done to verify or upgrade it. “The Porter Idaho project is a significant high-grade occurrence to which we aim to add considerable tonnage by diamond drilling the underexplored area between the two mineralized vein systems,” said Skeena President and CEO Walter Coles Jr. “Furthermore, the location of the project, immediately southeast of Stewart at the head of the Portland Canal, a port with year-round access, contributes significantly to the intrinsic value of this exciting asset.” To acquire Mount Rainey Silver, Skeena has agreed to issue up to 25,089,576 common shares in exchange for all of the issued and outstanding common shares of the privately held British Columbia corporation. Mount Rainey President and CEO Greg Vavra said, “We’ve held the Porter Idaho Project since 1978 and would only part with it to a group such as Skeena that has the reputation and experience to carry this project forward to its full potential.” Upon completion of the arrangement, Mount Rainey will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Skeena and former Mount Rainey shareholders will hold about 5.15 percent of the outstanding common shares of Skeena on an undiluted basis.

-Shane Lasley