The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
2020 sampling investigates prospects beyond the resources North of 60 Mining News – April 16, 2021
In addition to drilling to better define the Skukum Creek deposit, Whitehorse Gold carried out mapping, sampling, and data compilation at several of the precious metal occurrences across the wider Skukum property.
Whitehorse Gold Corp. April 15 reported the final results from a 2020 surface sampling and mapping program that explored the wider potential of its Skukum gold and silver project in southern Yukon.
Situated about 55 kilometers (34 miles) south of Whitehorse, Yukon, the Skukum project hosts 1.33 million metric tons of indicated resource containing 274,544 ounces of gold and 5.36 million oz of silver; plus 1.11 metric tons of inferred resource containing 223,873 oz of gold and 1.91 million oz of silver.
The bulk of this resource is in the Skukum Creek deposit, which hosts 1 million metric tons of indicated resource averaging 5.85 g/t (188,344 oz) gold and 166.4 g/t (5.36 million oz) silver; plus 537,000 metric tons of inferred resource averaging 4.99 g/t (86,124 oz) gold and 108.3 g/t (1.87 million oz) silver.
The balance of the overall resource is found in the nearby Goddell and Mount Skukum deposits.
In addition to these primary gold deposits, the 170-square-kilometer (65 square miles) Skukum gold project hosts several underexplored precious metal occurrences.
"Outside of our currently delineated gold deposits, the project hosts a wealth of high-grade, precious metal occurrences that emphasize the significant exploration potential and sets us apart from many junior exploration companies," said Whitehorse Gold CEO Kevin Weston. "Along with our Skukum Creek, Goddell and Mt. Skukum deposits, these other showings provide us with additional opportunity to grow the Skukum Gold project in the years to come."
To gain a better understanding of this opportunity, Whitehorse Gold's 2020 fieldwork included sampling and mapping programs of several of these outlying prospects.
The most significant mineralization is found in the Charleston vein, which lies about 5,000 meters west of the Skukum Creek deposit.
The vein was discovered in 1907 and a short adit was advanced along the structure in 1921. Whitehorse says this vein has been sampled by the various historic owners but has never been the subject of a systematic exploration program.
Samples collected by Whitehorse last year returned 14.85 g/t gold and 98.2 g/t silver over 0.5 meters, and 8.79 g/t gold and 297 g/t silver over 0.5 meters. They said these results validate historical samples on the out-cropping high-grade, gold mineralized structure.
Surface grab samples from a mineralized occurrence about 500 meters south-southeast of the Skukum Creek deposit returned 40.2 g/t gold and 134 g/t silver over 0.1 meters, and 30.9 g/t gold and 149 g/t silver over 0.1 meters. Whitehorse said these samples collected at Southeast Skukum Creek highlight the potential for sub-parallel structures in the hanging wall and footwall of the Skukum Creek deposit.
Surface grab sampling at Lake Zone, which is adjacent to the past-producing Mount Skukum deposit returned 48.3 g/t gold and 174 g/t silver, and 22.9 g/t gold and 47.3 g/t silver. Sampling of Brandy Vein, which is in the same area, returned grades of 39 g/t gold and 48.1 g/t silver.
In addition to the field program, Whitehorse has been compiling data from historical exploration across the Skukum property. The work included a review of past sampling of the Wanda, Marmot, Wolverine, Pika, and Fox gold-mineralized vein structures west of the Mount Skukum deposit.
Highlights from the compilation work of these Mount Skukum West structures include:
• 0.5 meters of 5.8 g/t gold and 20.6 g/t silver at Wanda Vein.
• 0.2 meters of 328.7 g/t gold and 377.1 g/t silver at Marmot Vein.
• 0.2 meters of 11.8 g/t gold and 8.2 g/t silver at Wolverine Vein.
• 0.9 meters of 92.9 g/t gold and 200.1 g/t silver at Pika Vein.
• 0.4 meters of 24.3 g/t gold and 17.8 g/t silver at the Fox veins.
Whitehorse says most of these veins were discovered in 1988 as the Mount Skukum mine was shutting down and the area was identified for follow-up work in the canceled 1990 exploration field season. No significant exploration work has been completed on the occurrences since.
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.
Reader Comments(0)