Transition Metals drills 104.64 g/t AgEq over 21.34 metres at Pike Warden, Yukon
Transition Metals Corp. [XTM-TSXV] reported assay results from a program of shallow reverse circulation (RC) drilling completed at the ERT zone on its Pike Warden gold-silver-copper property located approximately 65 km southwest of Whitehorse, Yukon.
Three track-mounted percussion RC drill holes totalling 204.2 metres, completed in October 2022, tested the down-dip extent of sub-cropping mineralization at the ERT zone. Previously disclosed chip sampling of this zone returned a length weighted average of 42.0 metres grading 64.28 g/t AgEq (silver equivalent), including 7.8 metres grading 170.63 g/t AgEq, 0.70 metres grading 539.72 g/t, and 0.4 metres grading 563.97 g/t AgEq.
Highlights: 16.76 metres grading 93.95 g/t AgEq, including 1.5 metres grading 482.95 g/t AgEq in hole 22-PW-01; 21.34 metres grading 104.64 g/t AgEq including 1.5 metres grading 399.10 g/t AgEq in hole 22-PW-02; 12.19 metres grading 52.96 g/t AgEq, including 1.5 metres grading 229.7 g/t AgEq in hole 22-PW-03.
The ERT Zone is only one of 18 identified mineralized zones discovered to date on the 37 km Superscript 2 property located near the margins of the Bennett Lake Volcanic Complex
The holes intersected two sub-parallel zones of high-grade silver mineralization which dip steeply to the south (070degrees/65degrees) and are hosted within a broad zone of altered brecciated and flow-banded felsic to intermediate volcaniclastic rocks associated with the Bennett Lake Volcanic Complex (BLVC). All three holes intersected significant values of silver near surface.
Scott McLean, P.Geo., CEO, commented: “We are very encouraged by the results from the shallow RC drill program at the ERT zone, as it represents the first program of drilling to ever be completed on this large and prospective property. The ERT Zone is only one of 18 identified mineralized zones discovered to date on the property which are located near the margins of the Bennett Lake Volcanic Complex. We think that this cluster of mineralization is part of a much larger epithermal mineralizing system.”
Located 10 km to the north in a similar geologic environment, the Skukum Creek Gold-Silver Deposit is estimated to contain an Indicated Mineral Resource of 1,001,300 tonnes at 7.75 g/t AuEq and an additional Inferred Mineral Resource of 537,000 tonnes at 6.22 g/t AuEq. Work completed by the optionor on the property in 2019, 2020, and 2021 identified multiple new showings associated with the BLVC dykes and associated structures1. Mineralization tends to be concentrated near the intersection of northeast and east-west-trending structures. High silver, gold, copper, molybdenum, and lead values in quartz veins suggest an intermediate to high sulfidation setting.
The ERT Zone is one of 18 historic and recently discovered high-grade polymetallic silver, gold, and copper epithermal showings on the property. It was first documented in the 1980s as an 800-metre-long soil anomaly in a predominantly scree covered slope. The Zone is partially exposed at surface over an approximately 50 by 50-metre area in the saddle of a large, steep sloped exposure of altered and mineralized BLVC volcanics. Sampling of the exposure returned up to 1,215 g/t silver in grabs within 42.00 metres grading 53.40 g/t silver.
Recent drilling has confirmed the presence of two zones, returning 21.34 metres grading 91.43 g/t silver in 22-PW-02, and 12.19 metres grading 52.96 g/t AgEq, including 1.5 metres grading 229.7 g/t AgEq in hole 22-PW-03. The zones are focused within parallel steeply dipping (070/65degree)s shear zones hosted within a more broadly altered and mineralized sequence of volcanics and are situated approximately 70 metres south of an interpreted structure, separating Jurassic-aged Whitehorse group granodiorites to the north from the Eocene-aged BLVC felsic to intermediate volcanic tuffs and flow breccias to the south.
The Pike Warden property is composed of 185 contiguous mining claims totaling approximately 37 km2. The property encompasses a combination of historic and recently discovered high-grade polymetallic gold, copper, and silver epithermal showings that are potentially indicative of a large epithermal-porphyry system in the vicinity of the BLVC. In June 2022, Transition Metals Corp. entered into an option to acquire a 100% interest in the property from the vendor in exchange for cash shares and work expenditures over four years.