VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / December 15, 2023 / CMC Metals Ltd. (TSX-V:CMB)(Frankfurt:ZM5P)(CMCXF:OTCQB) ("CMC" or the "Company") is providing an update and exploration outlook on its Rancheria Silver Properties in South-central Yukon and norther British Columbia, Canada.
Kevin Brewer, President and CEO notes: "Before we get into the detailed analysis, I wish to implicitly state that exploration on our properties in the Rancheria Silver District is still at a very early stage and there is considerable exploration potential for the discovery of significant high-grade silver-lead-zinc carbonate replacement, vein and skarn deposits. We have only "scratched the surface" on these very large prospective areas. I appreciate that everyone, including myself, would like an "early win" but often in exploration plays it takes a lot of science, patience, and commitment to eventually succeed. These projects require more commitment to truly evaluate their exploration potential, They will continue to play a significant role in our medium term growth and value generation strategy for this Company.
In the 2022 and 2023 exploration seasons we have conducted relatively small drill programs on both Silver Hart and Silverknife focused on exploring new areas, testing various exploration hypothesis for the effectiveness in identifying new mineralization, and determining the extent of known mineralization. In testing various hypotheses in these drill campaigns, we have only started the process of elimination on what works and what does not work. We have succeeded in improved our understanding of possible mineralizing controls and how we identify them to better pinpoint future drill targets.
Although results are not as outstanding as we had hoped, we understand that exploration plays of this nature often take a few years to result in significant discoveries. We are committed to further advancing future exploration efforts utilizing a combination of lessons learned, hard work, the accumulation and effective interpretation of a large geoscientific database to guide exploration efforts, and a commitment to further investment. The Rancheria Silver District is a very underexplored area. With few active exploration projects, it is even more challenging to make a new discovery simply because you are primarily restricted to your own knowledge base. In contrast, areas with a lot of exploration generate a lot of information from others that help guide exploration efforts.
My objective in this update and outlook is to present an overview of our efforts in the past two years. I then present what CMC considers to be a realistic plan going forward for exploration of our properties, based on what we have learnt from our drill programs, a review of approximately 40 years of exploration data, and what we are learning from exploration successes in the Rancheria Silver District. This is an emerging play.
CMC has placed considerable investment into the Rancheria Silver District that deserves considerably more exploration. Our Board remains highly enthused and committed to unveiling the exploration potential of our properties with the objective to generate an economically viable high-grade silver-lead-zinc deposit. CMC continues to seek new opportunities to generate value for our shareholders."
Silver Hart
The Main Zone at Silver Hart comprises of a series of parallel veins that to date have a contained inferred resource of 7.5 Moz @ 584 g/t silver equivalent ("AgEq"), in 362,500 tonnes utilizing a cut-off grade of 150 g/t AgEq.
After a couple of small drill campaigns, it became evident that the ability to further expand resources in the Main Zone was limited to a possible resource of 15-18 million contained silver-equivalent ounces. Therefore, a new exploration strategy was conceptualized that would target carbonate replacement style deposits that had been previously noted as possibly existing at Silver Hart.
Initial target priorities were identified as (i) areas with significant conductivity associated with large areas of geochemically anomalous silver, lead and zinc values from soil sampling efforts; and (ii) the known carbonate belt which comprises of limestones and skarnified carbonates within an area of approximately 300-600 meters in width and over 4 kilometers in strike length.
In the first conductivity targets, eight (8) holes were drilled and encountered disseminated pyrite and pyrrhotite which explained the conductivity but did not explain the geochemical anomalies. This raises question as to the possible importance, or lack thereof, of other conductivity anomalies identified in the 2021 airborne survey.
The drill program then shifted to a singular hole to test the northern extension of the Main Zine which encountered mineralization leading to possible evidence of a 250-meter extension of the KL mineralized area. A second drill hole 250 meters to the north had not encountered mineralization.
As a result of these efforts, drill attention then shifted to the second target to examine a portion of the carbonate belt which was proximal to the Main Zone in an area with manto structures exposed at surface. The drilling tested the manto structures for possible continuity along strike and depth with limited results. Drilling of the carbonates encountered primarily disseminated mineralization of no economic importance.
As a result of these disappointing results, CMC commissioned Ronacher-McKenzie Geosciences Incorporated to initiate a multi-phase study on the Silver Hart area to evaluate the possible existence of new exploration targets that could potentially host CRD, skarn, and/or vein deposits.
Phase one involved a compilation of all exploration results from the mid 1980's to current day. This data would then be the basis for further evaluation efforts. Phase two, now underway, is undertaking an analysis of the huge database of information, with particular focus on a collective view of the geological, geophysical, and geochemical results to pinpoint possible new areas of exploration interest and to also identify information gaps. Preliminary results have identified six potential areas of exploration interest (see Figure 1) that now require geological field mapping, structural analysis, possibly additional geochemical sampling (rock and soil) and/or trenching to determine their possible merit for drilling. Our plan is to undertake these field evaluations during the 2024 exploration season and then initiate drilling if meaningful targets are generated.
Figure 1: Areas of Exploration Interest - Silver Hart and Blue Heaven Claims, Yukon.
December 15, 2023. Vancouver, B.C. - CMC Metals Ltd. (TSX-V: CMB) (Frankfurt:ZM5P) (CMCXF: OTCQB) ("CMC" or the "Company") is providing an update and exploration outlook on its Rancheria Silver Properties in South-central Yukon and norther British Columbia, Canada.
Kevin Brewer, President and CEO notes: "Before we get into the detailed analysis, I wish to implicitly state that exploration on our properties in the Rancheria Silver District is still at a very early stage and there is considerable exploration potential for the discovery of significant high-grade silver-lead-zinc carbonate replacement, vein and skarn deposits. We have only "scratched the surface" on these very large prospective areas. I appreciate that everyone, including myself, would like an "early win" but often in exploration plays it takes a lot of science, patience, and commitment to eventually succeed. These projects require more commitment to truly evaluate their exploration potential, They will continue to play a significant role in our medium term growth and value generation strategy for this Company.
In the 2022 and 2023 exploration seasons we have conducted relatively small drill programs on both Silver Hart and Silverknife focused on exploring new areas, testing various exploration hypothesis for the effectiveness in identifying new mineralization, and determining the extent of known mineralization. In testing various hypotheses in these drill campaigns, we have only started the process of elimination on what works and what does not work. We have succeeded in improved our understanding of possible mineralizing controls and how we identify them to better pinpoint future drill targets.
Although results are not as outstanding as we had hoped, we understand that exploration plays of this nature often take a few years to result in significant discoveries. We are committed to further advancing future exploration efforts utilizing a combination of lessons learned, hard work, the accumulation and effective interpretation of a large geoscientific database to guide exploration efforts, and a commitment to further investment. The Rancheria Silver District is a very underexplored area. With few active exploration projects, it is even more challenging to make a new discovery simply because you are primarily restricted to your own knowledge base. In contrast, areas with a lot of exploration generate a lot of information from others that help guide exploration efforts.
My objective in this update and outlook is to present an overview of our efforts in the past two years. I then present what CMC considers to be a realistic plan going forward for exploration of our properties, based on what we have learnt from our drill programs, a review of approximately 40 years of exploration data, and what we are learning from exploration successes in the Rancheria Silver District. This is an emerging play.
CMC has placed considerable investment into the Rancheria Silver District that deserves considerably more exploration. Our Board remains highly enthused and committed to unveiling the exploration potential of our properties with the objective to generate an economically viable high-grade silver-lead-zinc deposit. CMC continues to seek new opportunities to generate value for our shareholders."
Silver Hart
The Main Zone at Silver Hart comprises of a series of parallel veins that to date have a contained inferred resource of 7.5 Moz @ 584 g/t silver equivalent ("AgEq"), in 362,500 tonnes utilizing a cut-off grade of 150 g/t AgEq.
After a couple of small drill campaigns, it became evident that the ability to further expand resources in the Main Zone was limited to a possible resource of 15-18 million contained silver-equivalent ounces. Therefore, a new exploration strategy was conceptualized that would target carbonate replacement style deposits that had been previously noted as possibly existing at Silver Hart.
Initial target priorities were identified as (i) areas with significant conductivity associated with large areas of geochemically anomalous silver, lead and zinc values from soil sampling efforts; and (ii) the known carbonate belt which comprises of limestones and skarnified carbonates within an area of approximately 300-600 meters in width and over 4 kilometers in strike length.
In the first conductivity targets, eight (8) holes were drilled and encountered disseminated pyrite and pyrrhotite which explained the conductivity but did not explain the geochemical anomalies. This raises question as to the possible importance, or lack thereof, of other conductivity anomalies identified in the 2021 airborne survey.
The drill program then shifted to a singular hole to test the northern extension of the Main Zine which encountered mineralization leading to possible evidence of a 250-meter extension of the KL mineralized area. A second drill hole 250 meters to the north had not encountered mineralization.
As a result of these efforts, drill attention then shifted to the second target to examine a portion of the carbonate belt which was proximal to the Main Zone in an area with manto structures exposed at surface. The drilling tested the manto structures for possible continuity along strike and depth with limited results. Drilling of the carbonates encountered primarily disseminated mineralization of no economic importance.
As a result of these disappointing results, CMC commissioned Ronacher-McKenzie Geosciences Incorporated to initiate a multi-phase study on the Silver Hart area to evaluate the possible existence of new exploration targets that could potentially host CRD, skarn, and/or vein deposits.
Phase one involved a compilation of all exploration results from the mid 1980's to current day. This data would then be the basis for further evaluation efforts. Phase two, now underway, is undertaking an analysis of the huge database of information, with particular focus on a collective view of the geological, geophysical, and geochemical results to pinpoint possible new areas of exploration interest and to also identify information gaps. Preliminary results have identified six potential areas of exploration interest (see Figure 1) that now require geological field mapping, structural analysis, possibly additional geochemical sampling (rock and soil) and/or trenching to determine their possible merit for drilling. Our plan is to undertake these field evaluations during the 2024 exploration season and then initiate drilling if meaningful targets are generated.
Figure 1: Areas of Exploration Interest - Silver Hart and Blue Heaven Claims, Yukon.
Silverknife
Exploration on this property in 2023 comprised of (i) extension of the 2022 gravity survey to cover the historic Silverknife Prospect; (ii) geological mapping and prospecting; and (iii) initial drilling of the Tootsee South and Silverknife Prospect areas. Prior to this, the 2021 airborne geophysical study had identified prominent conductivity anomalies in the northern portion of the Property in the Tootsee River area and a property wide anomaly trending southwestwards from the Silverknife Prospect to the western boundary of the property. In addition, a gravity survey conducted in late 2022 examined the norther portion of the property and served to discover the existence of significant gravity anomalies. These anomalies identified areas where material was of a higher density and therefore felt to represent possible areas of base-metal mineralization. Using a gravity survey was a novel approach as lead and zinc mineralization has a high density and therefore, it was felt that areas with gravity anomalies combined with good conductivity (silver is highly conductive) would present highly valid drill targets. So we set out to target gravity anomalies.
At the outset of the 2023 exploration season, we initiated drilling just south of the Tootsee River where there is considerable overburden (up to 50 meters). Due to the lack of any outcrops, drill targets were totally dependent on geophysical results.
At the same time, a gravity survey was extended to the south. Prior to this we speculated on the existence of an intrusive (the "heat source) extending into the property from the west into the northern part of the property and south of the Tootsee River but the existence and defined extent of the intrusive was not known.
Our first two holes south of the Tootsee River encountered the intrusive. A total of 435.6 meters was drilled in the Tootsee South area (see Figure 2). At the same time we completed our gravity survey to the south, which resulted in a refinement of the 2022 gravity results. This served to better define the extent of the gravity anomaly in the Tootsee River area, which was defined as occurring on the north side of the River. In this area the gravity anomaly is also coincident with a conductivity anomaly. Limited exposures identified in mapping efforts in the area north of the Tootsee River identified the presence of McDame limestone which is the host rock to the Silvertip deposit. However closer examination of the existing horse trail, that traverses the northern part of the Property and was the proposed access route into the area, indicated that it would take significant clearing and building efforts that would take several weeks to complete. Without access to the Tootsee North targets, we then mobilized the drill to the Silverknife Prospect.
Prior to 2023, the Silverknife Prospect had been subjected to a couple of drilling episodes that had resulted in the definition of an historic non 43-101 compliant resource with interesting intersections. The target geology was a prospective mineralized limestone assigned to the Kechika Group (see Figure 2), which stratigraphically occurs approximately one kilometer deeper than the McDame limestone in the sedimentary units of the Silvertip area. Our gravity survey identified parallel linear anomalies trending in a southwesterly direction that prior to drilling were thought to represent possible extensions of the mineralization at Silverknife in southwesterly structures.
Figure 2: Drilled areas - Silverknife 2023 with large areas of high prospectivity yet to be drilled in the Tootsee North and Silverknife Prospect areas.
Approximately 1,708 meters of drilling in 2023 at the Silverknife Prospect initially focussed on examining the prospectivity of gravity peaks but only encountered disseminated mineralization. The testing of these structures in a definitive manner consumed a majority of the drilling effort. Late in the drill campaign, we targeted possible extensions of mineralization from previous holes also without success.
Subsequent post-field analysis of our 2023 drilling and that of historical drilling has indicated to us that an important mineralization control are fault structures that were not intersected in our drilling. Further discussions with other explorationists in the region and a comprehensive review of regional results has indicated to us that targeting faults in drilling efforts holds the greatest potential for a discovery.
Figure 3: 2024 Target Areas - Silverknife Property. Note the size of the Tootsee North Target can accommodate all of the known replics of the Silvertip Mine Deposit suggesting a significant area of exploration interest.
From these efforts we have learnt that:
The Tootsee North Prospect merits detailed exploration. As it is a very large target area, detailed geological mapping, ground geophysics and trenching needs to be conducted to pinpoint drill targets.
Gravity highs may be coincident with geological contacts and different densities associated between sedimentary units in the area and/or the sediments with the intrusive. The potential value of gravity data to identify the location of base metal mineralization may not be significant.
The sediments in both target areas are in close proximity to the Cassiar intrusive ("the heat source') which is a key feature to the mineralization model and geological setting. Faults into the sediments resulting from the intrusive event provide pathways for the mobilization of mineralized fluids into the overlying sediments. This presents the need to identify possible fault structures in the sediments that then derive valid drill targets particularly in areas coincident with geophysical and/or geochemical anomalies.
The Tootsee North area is now the primary target area for future exploration given the presence of the McDame Limestone, proximity to the Cassiar intrusive, a large conductivity anomaly coincident with a gravity anomaly.
The Silverknife Prospect has considerable exploration prospectivity but a greater understanding of the structural geology of the area and how it relates to the known mineralization combined with determining a method to identify and target fault structures needs is required to pinpoint drill targets. The significance of its position within the sedimentary stratigraphy also needs to be further examined as it is much deeper in the sediment pile.
The Tootsee North target is a very large one as illustrated in Figure 3. To illustrate this point, we placed the known areal extent of the Silvertip Deposits into the Tootsee North area and it is easily accommodated within it. CMC still has significant targets at Silverknife of considerable size and significance.
Clearing and widening of the trail into the Tootsee North area was completed in late 2023 will now be upgraded in 2024 to facilitate passageway by heavy equipment (i.e Caterpillar and excavator), a skid mounted drill and vehicular traffic. Sites with exposures of McDame Limestone will be trenched subject to permit amendments, and geophysical ground surveys will be conducted to identify fault structures. Drill targets will then be prioritized for subsequent drilling.
Amy
Amy has a non-compliant 43-101 historic resource with reported high grades of silver, lead and zinc mineral from a zone drilled between two exploration portals that were constructed in the 1960's to 70's. Exploration at the site has been sporadic since. Access to the area was provided by a road constructed westwards from the road that transects the Silverknife Property and which then crosses the Tootsee River.
CMC has conducted preliminary investigations of the property in reconnaissance efforts (see Press Releases of January 6, 2022 and February 12, 2023 in www.cmcmetals.ca). Results to date have identified the presence of high-grade silver-lead-zinc mineralization in limestone outcrops at surface and tests of adit dump material also produced interesting grades of material.
The challenge to additional work on the property is ground access. The Tootsee River Crossing is quite deep and is not a practical crossing. Helicopter reconnaissance of the area suggests that a route north of the Tootsee River constructing an extension of the soon to be constructed access into the Tootsee River North area of the Silverknife Property presents a potentially viable route. As this route would traverse the claims of another exploration company there is a need for consultation with them on the route and with affected First Nations to evaluate the merit of conducting detailed environmental and wildlife studies of the area to support an application for route construction. Plans are underway to initiate this consultation process in 2024.
Qualified Person
Qualified Person Kevin Brewer, a registered professional geoscientist, is the Company's President and CEO, and Qualified Person (as defined by National Instrument 43-101). He has given his approval of the technical information pertaining reported herein. The Company is committed to meeting the highest standards of integrity, transparency and consistency in reporting technical content, including geological reporting, geophysical investigations, environmental and baseline studies, engineering studies, metallurgical testing, assaying and all other technical data.
About CMC Metals Ltd.
CMC Metals Ltd. is a growth stage exploration company focused on opportunities for high grade polymetallic deposits in Yukon, British Columbia and Newfoundland. Our polymetallic silver-lead-zinc CRD prospects in the Rancheria Silver District include the Silverknife and Amy projects (British Columbia) and the Silver Hart Deposit and Blue Heaven claims (Yukon). Our polymetallic projects with potential for copper-silver-gold and other metals include Bridal Veil (Newfoundland) and Logjam (Yukon).
On behalf of the Board:
"Kevin Brewer"
Kevin Brewer, P.Geo., President, CEO and Director
CMC METALS LTD.
For Further Information and Investor Inquiries:
Kevin Brewer, P. Geo., MBA, B.Sc.(Hons), Dip. Mine Eng.
President, CEO and Director
Tel: (+52) 669 198 8503
[email protected]
Suite 1000-409 Granville St., Vancouver, BC, V6C 1T2
To be added to CMC's news distribution list, please send an email to [email protected] or contact Mr. Kevin Brewer directly.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
"This news release may contain certain statements that constitute "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities law, including without limitation, statements that address the timing and content of upcoming work programs, geological interpretations, receipt of property titles and exploitation activities and developments. In this release disclosure regarding the potential to undertake future exploration work comprise forward looking statements. Forward-looking statements address future events and conditions and are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions. While such estimates and assumptions are considered reasonable by the management of the Company, they are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive and regulatory uncertainties and risks, including the ability of the Company to raise the funds necessary to fund its projects, to carry out the work and, accordingly, may not occur as described herein or at all. Actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward looking statements include market prices, exploitation and exploration successes, the timing and receipt of government and regulatory approvals, the impact of the constantly evolving COVID-19 pandemic crisis and continued availability of capital and financing and general economic, market or business conditions. Readers are referred to the Company's filings with the Canadian securities regulators for information on these and other risk factors, available at www.sedar.com. Investors are cautioned that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance or events and, accordingly are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements due to the inherent uncertainty of such statements. The forward-looking statements included in this news release are made as of the date hereof and the Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by applicable securities legislation."
SOURCE: CMC Metals Ltd.