Skeena Resources Ltd. Feb. 28 reported an updated open-pit resource for its Eskay Creek gold-silver project in northern British Columbia.

Skeena cut a deal with Barrick Gold Corp. late in 2017 to acquire the major's interest in Eskay Creek and during 2018 the junior carried out an initial phase of expansion and infill drilling targeting three zones – 21A, 21C and 22 – at this historic gold-silver mine property.

The 46 holes Skeena Resources drilled from the surface, combined with 7,583 surface and underground holes previously completed, were used to calculate the new resources.

According to the updated calculation, Eskay Creek hosts 12.71 million metric tons of surface mineable indicated resource averaging 4.5 grams per metric ton (1.82 million ounces) gold and 117 g/t (47.79 million oz) silver; and 13.57 metric tons of surface mineable inferred resource averaging 2.2 g/t (984,000 oz) gold and 42 g/t (18.46 million oz) silver.

At the request of Skeena, the depth of the open-pit resource was limited to 236 meters below the surface.

Due to the resource being advantageously located below a topographic ridge, Skeena said the average maximum depth below surface of the pit constrained resources is only 180 meters resulting in a modest strip ratio of 7.5-to-1.

In addition to the open-pit resource, the updated calculation includes 819,000 metric tons of underground indicated resource averaging 6.4 g/t (169,000 oz) gold and 139 g/t (3.66 million oz) silver; and 295,000 metric tons of underground inferred resource averaging 7.1 g/t (78,000 oz) gold and 82 g/t (778,000 oz) silver.

From 1994 to 2008, Barrick operated an underground mine at Eskay Creek that produced roughly 3.3 million oz of gold and 160 million oz of silver at average grades of 45 grams per metric ton gold and 2,224 g/t silver, which at the time made it the world's highest-grade gold mine and fifth-largest silver mine by volume.

–SHANE LASLEY