Seabridge Gold has begun exploratory drilling at their 100 per cent owned Iskut project in northern B.C.
The work will determine if the area has a gold-copper porphyry similar to Seabridge Gold’s massive KSM project located to the south.
“We think we have another porphyry system and that’s what we are testing this year so we are pretty excited about it,” said Jay Layman, Seabridge chief operating officer and director.
“You don’t know until you drill the rock but it looks like from the geochemistry on the surface, the geophysics and some of the things that we intercepted in our shallow drill programs the last few years show the top of the porphyry.”
A porphyry is a type of large, low-grade ore deposit often associated with ancient volcanic activity. Seabridge dated several formations of rock formed by magma below the Earth’s surface at around 187 million years, the same age as the deposits at KSM.
The company originally drilled on top of what Seabridge calls Quartz Rise, a mountain that rises above the old Johnny Mountain mine and the old Snip mine.
Seabridge found that most of the system had been eroded from the top. The target is located a couple of hundred metres underneath the top of the mountain, but the company found erosion had exposed the system on the sides of the mountain.
“That allows us, given setting up properly and safe drill pads, the ability to drill it in from the side,” said Layman.
“It makes it easier to drill from the standpoint of less ground to go through to reach the geophysics target.”
Seabridge is now drilling up to 8,000 metres of core to better understand the characteristics of the system, located near Hwy 37, around 110 kilometres north of Stewart.
As with the KSM project, Seabridge would look to partner with another company to operate a potential mine.
READ MORE: Seabridge Gold starts drilling along proposed tunnel route north of Stewart
@BenBogstieben.bogstie@terracestandard.comLike us on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/TerraceStandard/
” target=”_blank”>Facebook and follow us on <a href="https://twitter.com/TerraceStandard
” target=”_blank”>Twitter.
