Etruscus Resources Corp. [ETR-CSE; ERR-FSE] provides an update on field work carried out during the 2019 season near its Black Dog Deposit on the Rock and Roll property located in northwest British Columbia’s Golden Triangle region.
The results outline the potential for additional VMS targets and new mineralizing systems which may exist on the historic claims located only 7 km from Skeena Resource’s past-producing Snip mine and 13 km from Seabridge Gold’s past-producing Johnny Mountain mine. Both neighboring companies are also helping to revitalize the area with drilling planned at or near the historic mines this summer.
Etruscus is currently finalizing plans for its upcoming exploration and drill season, expected to begin shortly, and will be prioritizing these new, highly prospective areas.
New Prospective Areas:
- High concentrations of bismuth, a gold pathfinder element, in biogeochemical (bark) samples near a potential high-grade quartz vein in the Rob Area, located southeast near Skeena’s Snip Mine;
- Multi-element biogeochemical anomalies over rocks now known to conformably overlie the Black Dog Deposit, with coincident conductive and magnetic anomalies; and
- An isolated and coincident magnetic, conductive, and multi-element biogeochemical anomaly southwest of the Black Dog Deposit is confirmed to be a mineralized skarn.
Etruscus successfully completed structural mapping and infill biogeochemical sampling early in the 2019 season. This was followed up with more prospecting around the Black Dog Deposit in conjunction with the drill program completed later in the summer. The field work helped expand on structural interpretation of the Black Dog horizon as well as confirm biogeochemical sampling as an effective method of targeting in this forested terrain.
At the Rob Area, biogeochemical sampling completed near a 50-metre historic quartz vein, located in the southeast corner of Rock and Roll, returned high concentrations of bismuth and gold. Just 7 km away, Skeena’s Snip Mine that produced approximately 1 million ounces of high-grade gold with substantial silver, is described as having high levels of bismuth.
To the northeast, a large 400 by 800-metre anomalous area (Cu, Ag, As, Hg) was also delineated. Both targets in the Rob Area likely represent another mineralizing system outside of the Black Dog VMS trend and further investigation is planned for early 2020.
Age dating in the southeast corner of the property confirms that the rocks are of the same age as those at Snip, further substantiating the potential for high-grade gold in quartz veins within this terrain.
Biogeochemical sampling completed over the large package of carbonate rocks, southwest of the Black Dog Deposit, has shown positive anomalous multi-element anomalies (Ag, Cu, Pb, Zn, Hg), characteristic of samples over the Black Dog Deposit. Bark sampling is quick, simple and may be able to vector into sources below the limestone package. This could be key to locating new deposits as conductive and magnetic anomalies have been identified below the limestone cover. Areas with matching geochemical and geophysical anomalies may be related to mineralization and thus have been upgraded in priority for drill testing. Further biogeochemical sampling will be completed in 2020 to help evaluate the anomalous areas in more detail.
A new area to the southwest of the Black Dog Deposit is also emerging as a mineralized target based on the biogeochemical signature picked up from the bark sampling. This anomaly was further delineated with additional bark sampling late in the season. A field visit confirmed the presence of both limestones and intermediate intrusions supporting the recognition of skarn mineralization. Significant quartz veining was identified in one area and anomalous grab samples of 890 ppm zinc and 1,592 ppm copper were obtained in the vicinity.
Dr. David Webb, V.P. Exploration, reports, “We are very pleased at the effectiveness of bark sampling. Although not a well-known or frequently used tool, bark sampling clearly identifies all areas of known mineralization and has helped us identify additional anomalies throughout the area surrounding the Black Dog Deposit. We will continue to use this tool along with geophysical techniques in 2020 to identify drill targets that will help us find the next VMS deposit in our Black Dog system or other mineralization systems such as the ones identified at the Skarn and Rob Areas.”
Etruscus Resources is focused on the development of its 100%-owned Rock & Roll and Sugar properties comprising 27,136 hectares near the past-producing Snip mine in B.C.’s Golden Triangle. The company has 22,453,501 shares issued and outstanding.