Equity Metals Corporation (TSX-V:EQTY, OTCQB:EQMEF) has announced that crews have mobilized and drilling has commenced on its 100% owned Silver Queen project in central British Columbia.
The company said this is the first phase of a property-wide exploration program that will focus on continued resource expansion of the Camp and Sveinson deposits and the delineation of new targets throughout the property, including the company's initial drill-testing of the Cole Lake and George Lake vein systems.
The program will consist of up to 6,000 metres of drilling in two separate phases to be carried out through the Spring and early Summer, Equity Metals said, adding that additional surface soil sampling is also planned which will be used to upgrade several historic targets in preparation for future drill testing.
"The current drill program follows on the release of an updated Mineral Resource Estimate on the Silver Queen property in December 2022, which successfully doubled the mineral resources on a silver-equivalence basis with many mineralized blocks remaining open for further resource expansion,” Equity Metals vice president of exploration Rob Macdonald said in a statement.
The company said initial drilling will test a 200-metre extension of two veins in the Camp target and specifically western step-outs from high-grade intercepts in drill hole SQ22-078 which include:
- A 1.3 metre (0.9m estimated true thickness) interval grading 9.3 grams per tonne (g/t) gold (Au), 1,998g/t silver (Ag), 0.17% copper (Cu), 2.2% lead (Pb) and 6.8% zinc (Zn) (41.8g/t AuEq or 3,136g/t AgEq) within a 7.5-metre interval (5.2m est. TT) averaging 1.8g/t Au, 539g/t Ag, 0.5% Pb and 1.8% Zn (10.4g/t AuEq or 778g/t AgEq); and
- A 0.4 metre (0.3m est. TT) interval grading 0.2 g/t Au, 2,313g/t Ag, 1.2% Pb and 1.0% Zn (32.2g/t AuEq or 2,411g/t AgEq) within a 6.8-metre interval (4.7m est. TT) averaging156g/t Ag, 0.1% Pb and 0.1% Zn (2.2g/t AuEq or 166g/t AgEq).
The company said the identification of such strong gold enrichment in the Camp target, which has traditionally returned higher silver values relative to gold, further enhances the overall exploration potential of these vein extensions.
The drilling program will also test down-dip of the Sveinson target, located to the east of the Camp target, and then to other parts of the property, including the George Lake and Cole Lake vein systems where historical drill results have partially delineated mineralization over several hundred metres of potential strike-length and to depths of up to 450 metres below surface.
“Over 20 different veins have been identified on the property, many with encouraging drill intercepts that have not been properly offset,” Macdonald added. “Mineral Resources have been defined on only four veins leaving extensive exploration potential remaining on the property.”
Equity Metals is a Manex Resource group company, which provides exploration, administration, and corporate development services for Equity Metals' two major mineral properties - the Silver Queen gold-silver-zinc-copper project in central British Columbia, and the Monument Diamond project, located in Lac De Gras, Northwest Territories.
The Silver Queen asset spans 45 claims, 17 crown grants, and two surface crown grants totaling 18,852 hectares, with no underlying royalties. Mineralization is hosted by a series of epithermal veins distributed over a 6 square kilometre area.
Contact the author at stephen.gunnion@proactiveinvestors.com