North of 60 Mining News - The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North

Garibaldi Resources Corp. Jan. 22 reported wide near-surface intervals of nickel- and copper-rich mineralization from nine holes drilled last year at Nickel Mountain, a magmatic sulfide system about 11 miles (18 kilometers) southwest of the past producing Eskay Creek Mine in British Columbia's Golden Triangle.

Garibaldi first tapped the nickel- and copper-rich E&L intrusion at Nickel Mountain in 2017. This hole, EL-17-14, cut 16.75 meters averaging 8.3 percent nickel, 4.2 percent copper, 0.19 percent cobalt, 1.96 grams per metric ton platinum, 4.5 g/t palladium, 1.1 g/t gold and 11.1 g/t silver.

By the end of 2018, the company had drilled 46 holes into this nickel- and copper-rich massive sulfide discovery.

The latest batch of results include additional holes targeting Lower Discovery Zone, an increasingly important target of the E&L intrusion.

EL-19-75 cut 2.1 meters of 7.1 percent nickel and 3.9 percent copper, 0.2 percent cobalt, 0.7 grams per metric ton platinum, 0.93 g/t palladium, 0.36 g/t gold and 22.1 g/t silver in Lower Discovery Zone. This is at the lower end of an 89.7-meter intercept averaging 0.82 percent nickel, 0.75 percent copper, 0.02 percent cobalt, 0.23 g/t platinum, 0.55 g/t palladium, 0.28 g/t gold and 3.9 g/t silver.

Garibaldi said this hole has extended the Lower Discovery Zone 25 meters to the north where it remains open. More significant to future expansions, this intersection demonstrates a contact-style massive sulfide along the eastern wall of the E&L main chamber. This greatly increases the potential for a shell of continuous massive sulfides along the country rock contact within this segment of the E&L intrusion.

"EL-19-75 significantly expands the potential for shallow massive sulfide as it represents a gradual change into contact style mineralization along the eastern wall of the E&L main chamber, which could rim the majority of the chamber wall, possibly linking the LDZ to the NE zone with massive sulfides," said Garibaldi Resources Vice President of Exploration Jeremy Hanson.

NE Zone is located about 50 meters northeast of Lower Discovery Zone.

EL-19-74, which intersected NE Zone cut 12.5 meters grading 3.3 percent nickel, 1.6 percent copper, 0.1 percent cobalt, 0.36 g/t platinum, 0.41 g/t palladium, 0.35 g/t gold and 5.3 g/t silver.

EL-19-74 extends the NE Zone eight meters to the east.

EL-19-72 encountered a new near-surface zone referred to as Gulley. This hole cut 17.5 meters averaging 1 percent nickel, 0.56 percent copper, 0.04 percent cobalt, 0.46 g/t platinum, 1.06 g/t palladium, 0.31 g/t gold and 3.6 g/t silver from a depth of only 27.5 meters.

El-19-67 has intersected two intervals of mineralized gabbro well below the LDZ, indicating the main E&L chamber is connected to the second deeper chamber confirmed by earlier drilling. One of these deeper intercepts cut 11.8 meters of 0.28 percent nickel, 0.68 percent copper, 0.01 percent cobalt, 0.47 g/t platinum, 0.91 g/t palladium, 0.52 g/t gold and 6.1 g/t silver.

Garibaldi said elevated copper-nickel ratios, total precious metals and metal tenors in these deeper zones indicate the potential for a high-grade or enriched copper-platinum group element zone along trend.

"Hole 67 was key as it intercepted the mineralized E&L gabbro conduit below EL-19-65, taking the continuous mineralized system deeper with the possibility this will lead to one or more new massive sulfide zones," said Hanson.

Garibaldi Resources Corp.

Garibaldi said this latest batch of drill results are helping geologists better understand the emplacement of E&L mineralization along structural contacts. In addition, key geochemical and geophysical markers related to high-grade mineralization are being unraveled and are instrumental in detecting and tracking new massive sulfide mineralization toward projected pathways.

"Geochemical data from holes 66 through 75 provide important new clues for the location of additional segments of the E&L Intrusion at depth below and to the east of the E&L mineral zone, said Dr. Peter Lightfoot, a technical advisor to Garibaldi Resources. "The discovery of elevated Nickel tenor at depth below the E&L strongly supports the idea that the open system intrusion has extensive exploration potential."

Lightfoot is a geologist and noted expert on nickel-copper-precious metal deposits.

–SHANE LASLEY