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

Fireweed Zinc Ltd. Aug. 17 reported that its first 2021 hole at Macmillan Pass cut a wide zone of strong zinc mineralization at the Boundary West discovery, including a very high-grade section reminiscent of the Tom and Jason deposits that currently host the resource at this expansive project in eastern Yukon, Canada.

A road-accessible project next to the Northwest Territories border, the 940-square-kilometer (363 square miles) Macmillan Pass property covers a 55-kilometer (34 miles) trend of potential zinc-lead-silver mineralization.

Two deposits at Macmillan Pass – Tom and Jason – host 11.2 million metric tons of indicated resource averaging 6.59% (1.63 billion pounds) zinc, 2.48% (620 million lb) lead, and 21.33 grams per metric ton (7.7 million ounces) silver; plus 39.5 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.

Lying about 15 road-kilometers (nine miles) west of Jason, the Boundary zone is shaping up to be a large zinc-lead-silver deposit with the potential to significantly expand these resources.

Fireweed first drilled Boundary in 2019. The second hole, NB19-002, cut 230 meters averaging 4.14% zinc, 0.3% lead, and 9.7 g/t silver from surface; including 100 meters averaging 7.94% zinc, 0.1% lead, and 11.1 g/t silver.

A ground-based geophysical program carried out identified a strong gravity high anomaly that extends 800 meters west and 200 meters east of the 2019 drilling.

NB20-004, the first hole to test the Boundary West anomaly, cut 76.5 meters averaging 4.22% zinc, 0.34% lead, and 25.6 g/t silver.

Drilled from the same pad as NB20-004 but at a shallower angle to cut across the mineralization above the Boundary West discovery hole, NB21-001 cut 46.96 meters averaging 7.71% zinc, 0.7% lead, and 32.1 g/t silver.

"The first step-out hole at Boundary West has demonstrated continuity and an increase in grade of the massive sulfides in the upper sequence compared to the intersection in the discovery hole drilled in 2020," said Fireweed Zinc CEO Brandon Macdonald.

This first hole of the 2021 season at Macmillan Pass intersected laminated sphalerite-galena-pyrite-barite mineralization like what is found at the Tom and Jason deposits, vein-hosted and massive sulfide mineralization, and a new zone of laminated mineralization high in the upper sequence.

A 1.67-meter intercept in the laminated mineralization reminiscent of Tom and Jason averaged 30.95% zinc, 7.6% lead, and 77.8 g/t silver.

"The presence of extremely high-grade Tom-Jason-style mineralization above the massive sulfide is very encouraging," said Macdonald. "We are using the geology to vector towards the feeder-structure, where high zinc, lead, and silver grades are anticipated."

The zone of laminated mineralization discovered in NB21-001 averaged 2.63% zinc, 0.26% lead, and 13.2 g/t silver over 13.45 meters.

Fireweed says the upper contact of this new zone of mineralization in NB21-001 is marked by a fault, which is consistent with a thicker and more complete intersection of this zone cut with hole NB21-002 that appears better mineralized. Assays are pending.

As of Aug. 17, Fireweed had completed eight holes this season at MacMillan Pass. In addition to Boundary West, this includes drilling at Tom East, a high-grade zone that currently hosts a portion of the resource at MacMillan Pass.

"The drilling at Tom East is both confirming the nature of mineralization and improving our understanding of the geology and structure of that deposit," Macdonald said earlier this year.

Author Bio

Shane Lasley, Publisher

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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