The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
Cuts deals for zinc-silver prospective properties to the west North of 60 Mining News – November 25, 2020
Fireweed Zinc expands its Macmillan Pass land package to roughly 936 square kilometers (231,300 acres).
Fireweed's newly acquired properties cover western extension of Fertile Corridor, which hosts the zinc-lead-silver deposits already identified at Macmillan Pass.
Fireweed Zinc Ltd. Nov. 23 announced that it has nearly doubled its land position in the Macmillan Pass area of eastern Yukon through the acquisition of two claim blocks that cover zinc, lead and silver targets to the west of its already large mineral exploration project.
To acquire this western extension of the Macmillan Pass project, Fireweed entered into two separate agreements – one with QuestEx Gold & Copper Ltd. for approximately 74 square kilometers (18,300 acres) of mining claims in three claim blocks; and another with two private arms-length individuals on a much larger western extension of claims covering around 318 square kilometers (78,600 acres).
As a result, the Macmillan Pass project area now covers roughly 936 square kilometers (231,300 acres) of zinc, lead, and silver prospective property covering western extensions of Fertile Corridor, the prime exploration target trend on Fireweed's previously held property.
"With the signing of these agreements, we have acquired a large land package with good exploration potential on the western extensions of the Fertile Corridor and Boundary Zone," said Fireweed Zinc CEO Brandon Macdonald. "These properties were originally explored for gold and that work generated a large volume of geochemical and geophysical data that was not closely examined for other metals."
Two deposits at Macmillan Pass – Tom and Jason – host 11.21 million metric tons of indicated resource averaging 6.59% (1.63 billion pounds) zinc, 2.48% (610 million lb) lead and 21.33 grams per metric ton (7.7 million ounces) silver; plus 39.47 million metric tons of inferred resource averaging 5.84% (5.08 billion lb) zinc, 3.14% (2.73 billion lb) lead and 38.15 g/t (48.4 million oz) silver.
Boundary, a zone about 15 road-kilometers (nine miles) west of Jason, has the potential to expand and upgrade these resources.
Geological interpretation has found that the Fertile Corridor hosting these deposits and other targets is controlled by the Hess fault, a long active crustal-scale fault zone that appears to have been a conduit for mineralizing fluids in the district.
Fireweed says this fault extends across much of its newly acquired ground and strong soil geochemical anomalies indicate good potential for shale-hosted zinc and lead deposits like those it has already outlined at Macmillan Pass.
"In addition, there are some big kilometer-scale silver anomalies which may also indicate mineralization of a different type altogether," said Macdonald. "Our main exploration focus will remain at Boundary, Tom and Jason but these new properties represent an intriguing lottery ticket with potential for future big discoveries."
To acquire the three claim blocks from QuestEx – Sol, Stump, and Ben – Fireweed agreed to pay C$100,000 plus issue 350,000 Fireweed shares upon TSX Venture Exchange approval of the agreement. QuestEx retains a 0.5% net smelter royalty on all base metals and silver and a 2% NSR on gold and all other metals. There is an additional private third-party royalty consisting of a 2% NSR on production from the Sol Property of which 1% may be extinguished for C$2 million.
The second agreement with two arms-length individuals is a one-year option agreement under which Fireweed can acquire Oro, a very large western extension of its Macmillan Pass project. Under this option agreement, Fireweed can exercise the option and acquire 100% interest in the claims by paying C$250,000 and issuing 500,000 shares upon TSX Venture Exchange approval of the option; and paying another C$250,000 and issuing an additional 500,000 shares within one year of the approval. The vendors retain a 0.5% NSR on all base metals and silver and a 2% NSR on gold and other metals which may be mined from the property.
Over his more than 16 years of covering mining and mineral exploration, Shane has become renowned for his ability to report on the sector in a way that is technically sound enough to inform industry insiders while being easy to understand by a wider audience.
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