Equity Metals Corporation (TSX-V:EQTY, OTCQB:EQMEF) said it has now filed its previously reported updated resource estimate for its Silver Queen project in British Columbia, which increased the higher confidence indicated category by 187% and the inferred by 30% compared to a 2019 report, and said it will begin exploration there in the second quarter.
The new estimate includes lateral and down-dip extensions of the previously modelled No. 3 and NG-3 Veins in the 2019 report, along with new, previously unmodelled, mineralization from the Camp and Sveinson targets
"At the time we assumed management of the company in Q3 of 2019, we felt there were clear opportunities to quickly add significantly to the 2019 MRE at Silver Queen, and we are proud to report our success at a very low cost of $0.15/oz of added AgEq or $11/oz of added AuEq," said president of Equity Metals Joe Kizis in the statement.
"The MRE remains open for additional delineation west of the Camp Resource and within the Sveinson Resource. In addition, there are several targets that have only been tested by a few drill holes and remain very attractive areas for new discoveries and MRE increase," he added.
READ: Equity Metals issues updated resource estimate for Silver Queen project, which shows 187% increase in Indicated category
As reported in December last year, compared to the 2019 estimate, the new resource shows a 2.6 million tonnes (Mt) increase in the higher confidence indicated resource to 3.46Mt averaging 189 grams per ton (g/t) silver, 2.13g/t gold, 0.24% copper, 0.6% lead and 3.5% zinc for 21 million ounces of silver, 237,000 ounces of gold, 18 million pounds of copper, 48 million pounds of lead and 267 million pounds of zinc.
This equates to 62.8 million ounces silver-equivalent or 767,000 ounces of gold-equivalent.
In the inferred category, there was a 1.1Mt increase to 1.92Mt averaging 162g/t silver, 0.80g/t gold, 0.23% copper, 0.5% lead and 2% zinc, containing 10.3 million ounces silver, 50,000 ounces of gold, 10 million pounds of copper; 23 million pounds of lead, and 84 million pounds of zinc.
The latest resource update used a net smelter return (NSR) cut-off at C$100 per tonne with updated metals pricing.
The firm has spent C$6.75 million on exploration of the Silver Queen project since 2019 and the updated NI 43-101 resource increases the tonnage by around 240% with around 64% of the resource now classified as indicated on a tonnage basis.
The report recommends a proposed program of work, which has a budget of US$1.69 million and includes:
- Step-out drilling to the west and down-dip of the Camp vein resource
- Further delineation of veins within the Sveinson resource
- Continued confirmation and delineation of historical veins identified on the property by previous workers, including the George Lake, George Lake South and the Cole Lake veins where historical drilling has identified significant exploration potential. Surface work may include soil and rock chip sampling to assist in establishing vein orientations to be followed by confirmation drilling
- Metallurgical test work to resolve base metal displacement in the copper and lead concentrates
- Further test work to optimize gold deportment within the floatation circuit.
Equity Metals said it was fully financed for the proposed work and will start exploration during the second quarter of 2023.
In a separate statement, the company also announced it had closed its previously announced flow-through, premium flow-through and non-flow-through private placing by issuing over 23.5 million units for gross proceeds of C$2,742,649.26.
As previously announced, Equity Metals closed a first tranche for gross proceeds of C$1,692,649.26 by issuing 8,333,333 flow-through (FT) units at C$0.12 each and 4,711,900 premium flow-through (PFT) units at C$0.147 each.
Now, it has closed the final tranche by issuing 10.5 million non-flow-through (NFT) units at C$0.10 each for gross proceeds of $1,050,000.
The gross proceeds from the sale of both the FT Units and PFT units will be used for work programs on the company's Silver Queen gold-silver exploration property in British Columbia.
The net proceeds received from the sale of the NFT units will be used for general working capital.
Contact the writer at giles@proactiveinvestors.com