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

Fireweed Metals Corp. Oct. 24 announced that the 2023 exploration program at its Macmillan Pass project in Yukon, Canada, has come to a close with more than triple the meterage from last year, truly living up to its planned "largest program ever." The company also reports assays from almost half of the total holes drilled for the year.

A road-accessible project adjacent to Yukon's border with Northwest Territories, the 940-square-kilometer (363 square miles) Macmillan Pass project covers a roughly 55-kilometer (34 miles) trend of zinc, lead, silver, and copper mineralization.

According to the most recent calculation, two of its more advanced deposits – 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.

Already aiming for its "largest drill program" to date, 2023 was slated to include more than 16,000 meters of drilling between the Tom, Jason, and Boundary targets – more than double the 7,000 drilled in 2022.

However, the company blew past its doubling and tripled its goal, achieving more than 22,500 meters of drilling.

Higher than forecast drill penetration rates over the initial portion of the season, as well as additional financing, allowed Fireweed to expand the program from 16,000 meters to almost 23,000 meters.

With the added time, the expanded program included additional step-out holes at Boundary Zone, Tom South, and Jason South, in addition to five metallurgical drill holes at its Mactung tungsten property.

Catching up on assays

Following up on drilling from 2022, Fireweed continued to test the extent of the high-grade feeder zone target at Boundary. The company reported the first three holes in late July and a fourth hole in mid-August.

Assay results from these first holes of the 2023 program at Boundary included:

• 38 meters (19 meters true-width) averaging 9.12% zinc, 1.5% lead, and 52.6 g/t silver from a depth of 173 meters in hole NB23-001, including 20 meters (10 meters true-width) averaging 15.32% zinc, 2.53% lead, and 86.2 g/t silver.

• 36.3 meters (true-width unavailable) averaging 3.31% zinc, 0.08% lead, and 10.2 g/t silver from 224.74 meters in NB23-002, including 4.2 meters (2.1-meters true width) averaging 18.71% zinc, 0.3% lead, and 47.1 g/t silver – (Fireweed notes this interval had core recovery less than 85%).

• 71.9 meters (40 meters true-width) averaging 6.48% zinc, 3.09% lead, and 97.8 g/t silver from 208 meters in NB23-003, including 22 meters (12 meters true-width) averaging 10.7% zinc, 6.96% lead, and 178.6 g/t silver.

• 82.5 meters averaging 11.9% zinc, 2.2% lead, and 81.2 g/t silver from a depth of 170.7 meters; and 118 meters averaging 15.1% zinc, 2.8% lead, and 85.8 g/t silver from a depth of 308.9 meters in NB23-007.

Fireweed saved up a bulk of assays for its recent announcement. Highlights include:

• 81.34 meters (35 meters estimated true-width) averaging 8.46% zinc, 1.06% lead, and 47 g/t silver from a depth of 332.9 meters in hole NB23-016, with two other distinct intervals comprising 12.84 meters averaging 4.54% zinc and 8.8 g/t silver, and 7.68 meters averaging 6.87% zinc and 9.5 g/t silver.

• 67.78 meters (41 meters true-width) averaging 6.26% zinc, 1.22% lead, and 52 g/t silver from 223.5 meters in NB23-012, including 26.17 meters averaging 3.18% zinc and 8.4 g/t silver.

• 44.83 meters (8.5 meters true-width) averaging 8.3% zinc, 1.16% lead, and 42.9 g/t silver from 204.5 meters in NB23-011, including two separate intervals comprising 7.99 meters averaging 4.47% zinc and 8.9 g/t silver, and 9.03 meters averaging 3.69% zinc, 0.31% lead, and 26.4 g/t silver.

• 29.77 meters (20 meters true-width) averaging 2.87% zinc, 0.28% lead, and 27.7 g/t silver from 408.1 meters in NB23-013, including another two intervals cutting 5.35 meters averaging 8.31% zinc, 0.25% lead, and 31 g/t silver, and 5.55 meters averaging 7.71% zinc, 0.68% lead, and 32.9 g/t silver.

• 95.87 meters averaging 3.21% zinc, 1.06% lead, and 18.5 g/t silver from 124.1 meters in NB23-015, and another separate zone cutting 43.98 meters averaging 1.99% zinc, 0.68% lead, and 13.1 g/t silver from 253.9 meters.

Out of the 40 holes drilled at Boundary Zone, 36 were step-outs that tested the replacement and vein mineralization, laminated stratiform mineralization, and massive sulfide zones.

Targeting the massive-stratiform zone resulted in the visual identification of many wide intersections of zinc-lead mineralization with assays pending. However, the most significant intersections showed at least 10 holes cut into massive sulfide, with two of them cutting feeder-proximal laminated to massive sulfide.

Aligning with its growing idea regarding the Boundary Zone, the geometry and stratigraphic sequence intersected in these holes continue to support the idea that the laminated and massive sulfide mineralization are part of the same geological layer at Boundary, forming an approximately tabular stratiform zone.

Fireweed Metals Corp.

Click image to see larger map.

As assays continue to roll in, evidence should continue to pile on, confirming whether Fireweed has drilled into a singular body.

"We are delighted by the continued demonstration of scale, strength, and continuity of mineralization at the Boundary Zone. The results today further illustrate the significance of Boundary Zone within the Macpass Project," said Fireweed Metals CEO Brandon Macdonald. "Critically, the recent results give us a clearer picture of the geometries of the stratiform massive sulphide zones and surrounding vein, breccia, and replacement style mineralization. We have now completed our largest ever drill program, which has started to reveal the true scale of the mineralization at Boundary Zone and we eagerly await many more results from Boundary Zone, and the Tom and Jason deposits."