Mining News: UG Drill results confirm historical results at Snip

Skeena Resources Ltd. said the results from the first 17 underground holes drilled this year at the past producing Snip Mine tapped high-grade gold and bolster the company’s confidence in the decades-old drill data for this historic operation in northwestern British Columbia. The best intercept so far came in hole UG17-013, which cut 1.5 meters averaging 341 grams per metric ton gold. This intersection is 15 meters down-dip of the historically mined 150 Vein stope and matches spatially the modeled 150 Vein which was interpreted solely from historical drilling. The tenor and location of this intersection is also supported by 1996-era underground holes UG-1302, which cut 5.2 meters of 23.81 g/t gold and UG-1304, which cut 1.9 meters of 165.17 g/t gold, both down-dip of hole 13. The other three 2017 holes fanned on this section intersected a previously unidentified 150 Vein stope between the 260 and 220 levels. However, these historical intersections do not occur within the newly recognized stope and may represent a mineralized structure parallel to and within the footwall of the 150 Vein.

Also targeting the 150 Vein, hole UG17-008 cut 2.03 meters of 67.68 g/t gold immediately adjacent to an unanticipated void below the 260 level. This occurrence likely represents the remnants of a mining under-break during past excavation of the 150 Vein. Additionally, an unmined hanging wall splay of the 150 Vein averaging 10.76 g/t gold over 4.3 meters was intersected by hole UG17-014. This splay occurs 15 meters into the hanging wall of the 150 Vein and is supported by numerous historical drill holes, including 1.9 meters of 75.47 g/t gold cut UG-1571.

Skeena said the remaining results from the first 17 holes verified the historical data in the Twin Zone and 150 Vein by successfully supporting the anticipated geology and mineralization models. “This first campaign of underground drilling gives us greater confidence in the decades-old data such that we can utilize the past drilling and build upon it for a maiden resource at Snip,” said Skeena CEO Walter Coles Jr. The historical Snip database that Skeena inherited from Barrick Gold Corp. included 3,549 surface and underground drill holes totaling 280,000 meters drilled between 1986 and 1999. The 17-year-old digital dataset was inherited without complete documentation to support drill hole locations or analytical results. Once validated, the historical data will be included in a maiden resource for Snip. “Once our technical team is comfortable with the data, our 2018 plan will be to aggressively expand upon the known zones and to prioritize previously overlooked areas with the highest exploration potential,” said Coles. Skeena has completed over 7,500 meters of a planned 9,000-meter drill program for 2017.

–SHANE LASLEY