Skeena Announces Skeena Announces 21A West Zone Expansion Discovery at Eskay Creek Including 8.95 g/t AuEq over 34.00 metres
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / March 9, 2022 / Skeena Resources Limited (TSX:SKE)(NYSE:SKE) ("Skeena" or the "Company") is pleased to announce final drilling results from the 2021 regional and near mine exploration programs at the Eskay Creek gold-silver Project ("Eskay Creek" or the "Project") in the Golden Triangle of British Columbia. Analytical results from the recently completed drill holes are detailed in this release. Reference images are presented at the end of this release as well as on the Company's website.
New 2021 Exploration Program Highlights:
- 1.29 g/t Au, 36 g/t Ag (1.76 g/t AuEq) over 14.50 m (SK-21-972)
- 0.79 g/t Au, 26 g/t Ag (1.14 g/t AuEq) over 21.11 m (SK-21-972)
- 1.77 g/t Au, 200 g/t Ag (4.44 g/t AuEq) over 11.73 m (SK-21-983)
- 0.78 g/t Au, 120 g/t Ag (2.39 g/t AuEq) over 11.50 m (SK-21-985)
- 8.78 g/t Au, 13 g/t Ag (8.95 g/t AuEq) over 34.00 m (SK-21-997)
Gold Equivalent (AuEq) calculated via the formula: Au (g/t) + [Ag (g/t) / 75]. True widths and zone geometries cannot be definitively determined at this time. Grade-capping of individual assays has not been applied to the Au and Ag assays informing the length-weighted AuEq composites. Metallurgical processing recoveries have not been applied to the AuEq calculation and are taken at 100%. Samples below detection limit were nulled to a value of zero.
New In-Pit Discovery Expands 21A Zone
Following up on resource category conversion drilling performed in early 2021, exploratory drill hole SK-21-997 intersected high-grade gold mineralization averaging 8.78 g/t Au, 13 g/t Ag (8.95 g/t AuEq) over 34.00 m located60 m west of Skeena's current 21A Zone pit-constrained resources. Hosted entirely within the rhyolite sequence, this new mineralization is only 30 m vertically below surface. This discovery remains open for expansion 120 m to the north and already occurs within the limits of the contemplated open-pit from Skeena's 2021 Prefeasibility Study ("PFS"). The high-grade gold and essentially negligible silver concentrations in this new intersection is uncharacteristic of rhyolite hosted mineralization at Eskay Creek. Refer to Table 1 below.
Table 1: Drill hole SK-21-997 length weighted drill hole composite and high-grade subintervals - 21A West Expansion
| Hole-ID | From (m) | To (m) | Sample Length (m) | Au (g/t) | Ag (g/t) | AuEq (g/t) |
| SK-21-997 | 44.00 | 78.00 | 34.00 | 8.78 | 13 | 8.95 |
| Including | 61.00 | 61.50 | 0.50 | 43.10 | 19 | 43.35 |
| and | 61.50 | 62.20 | 0.70 | 63.60 | 18 | 63.85 |
| and | 72.70 | 73.20 | 0.50 | 30.00 | <0.5 | 30.00 |
| and | 73.20 | 73.70 | 0.50 | 16.15 | <0.5 | 16.15 |
| and | 74.20 | 74.70 | 0.50 | 12.55 | <0.5 | 12.55 |
| and | 74.70 | 75.20 | 0.50 | 14.15 | <0.5 | 14.15 |
| and | 75.20 | 76.00 | 0.80 | 16.00 | <0.5 | 16.00 |
| and | 76.00 | 76.95 | 0.95 | 75.70 | <0.5 | 75.70 |
"Due to a lack of drilling, this new discovery which expands the 21A Zone to the west, was considered waste rock in the currently proposed PFS reserve pit area," notes Paul Geddes P.Geo., the Company's Vice President of Exploration and Resource Development. "We will work to expand and infill drill the 21A West Zone and potentially bolster the pit-constrained resources surrounding this newly discovered mineralization".
Other Near Mine Targets
Additional mineralization has been discovered between the 21A and 23 Zones highlighted by drill hole SK-21-972, which intersected three intervals averaging 1.29 g/t Au, 36 g/t Ag (1.76 g/t AuEq) over 14.50 m, 0.79 g/t Au, 26 g/t Ag (1.14 g/t AuEq) over 21.11 m and 1.14 g/t Au, 23 g/t Ag (1.45 g/t AuEq) over 13.50 m. These intervals are hosted within the footwall dacite series as is the case with the recently discovered 23 Zone.
2022 Exploration Outlook
The Company is anticipating a staged drilling startup beginning in early Q2 2022, focusing on near mine and regional targets that were not explored during the 2021 drilling program. Overall, 60,000 m has been allocated to the 2022 exploration program which will continue to focus on supplementing the existing mine plan with additional near surface mineralization amenable to open-pit mining methods and will be paralleled by exploratory drill testing of the deep Mudstone extensions north of the former Eskay Creek mine. Allocation of meterage will remain results driven. Expansion and delineation drilling will also occur in the new 21A West Zone as well as the recently discovered 23 Zone.
About Skeena
Skeena Resources Limited is a Canadian mining exploration and development company focused on revitalizing the past-producing Eskay Creek gold-silver mine located in Tahltan Territory in the Golden Triangle of northwest British Columbia, Canada. The Company released a Prefeasibility Study for Eskay Creek in July 2021 which highlights an open-pit average grade of 4.57 g/t AuEq, an after-tax NPV5% of C$1.4B, 56% IRR, and a 1.4-year payback at US$1,550/oz Au. Skeena is currently completing both infill and exploration drilling to advance Eskay Creek to a full Feasibility Study in 2022.
On behalf of the Board of Directors of Skeena Resources Limited,