Mining BC’s Golden Triangle: A New Perspective. A Fresh Approach

Living and-or working in the right neighbourhood is highly desirable for both families and companies. The Golden Triangle region of Northwestern British Columbia is just about the best neighbourhood for what is now being called “A Modern Day Gold Rush.” Here’s why the Golden Triangle neighbourhood is that good:

• Home to some of the world’s largest and richest mineral deposits
• New discoveries by Seabridge Gold (TSX.SEA), Garibaldi Resources (TSX-V.GGI), Metallis Resources (TSX-V.MTS) and GT Gold Corp (TSX-V.GTT)
• Improved key infrastructure
• Rising gold prices
• Increased collaboration between First Nations, government, and industry
• Plus, high-grade mineral discovery potential in a new geological model.

As its name implies, the Golden Triangle has hosted many past producing gold mines, with several more in various stages of being brought into production. These include:

1. Eskay Creek – considered to be the world’s most precious metal-rich Volcanogenic Massive Sulfide (VMS) deposit.
2. KSM – deemed to be the world’s largest undeveloped copper/gold porphyry deposit. It has an initial 44-year mine life production plan with reserves of 38.8 million ounces of gold and 10.2 billion pounds of copper.
3. Brucejack – the mine commenced production in 2017 and is considered to be one of the highest grade gold mines (16.2 g/t au) to have opened in recent years, with estimated reserves of 4.2 million ounces of gold.

Now, a relatively new yet aggressively positioned player has moved into this ‘upscale mining neighbourhood’ with the goal to build on current resources by discovering additional bigger, richer zones. And this company is ready to “Rock & Roll.”

Etruscus Resources Corp. (ETR) (CSE.ETR, OTC: ETRUF, FSE: ERR, Forum) is a Vancouver-based junior exploration company focused on the development of its 100%-owned Rock & Roll and Sugar properties comprising 27,000-plus hectares near the past producing Snip mine in northwest BC’s aforementioned prolific Golden Triangle. Offering a “new perspective and a fresh approach” to exploration and development in the region, ETR is located in a very active area with new mines, major investments, discoveries, infrastructural improvements, and revitalized projects.


In the News

Etruscus’ Rock and Roll Property hosts its VMS Black Dog deposit. Most of the Company’s drilling has been aimed at expanding it. As announced on September 15th, ETR hit massive and semi-massive sulphides at its Rock and Roll property. And the results are both promising and impressive:

Highlights:

• Hole RR20-09: Three separate lenses of mineralization have been hit containing massive, semi-massive and disseminated sulphide totaling 9.5 meters (m), including two lenses within a 12.8 m zone
• The sulphide included abundant sphalerite (zinc) and chalcopyrite (copper) that has in the past been correlated to elevated precious metal content
• A fault zone is emerging as an important structural feature as it has been noted in multiple deep drill holes and may have implications for offset deeper mineralization; and
• Drilling has moved to "Brown Sugar", a shallow portion of "The Wall" target that occurs at depth. It is down-dip of and has a footprint 10 times the size of the Black Dog deposit.

(Click image to enlarge)


About the Projects

Etruscus Resources’ Rock & Roll deposit is located seven kilometres northwest of the past-producing Snip Mine, currently operated by Skeena Resources Ltd. (TSX.SKE). The immediate area has seen major investment in recent years, with both an infrastructure upgrade of a road planned to Seabridge Gold’s Johnny Mountain project and significant strategic investment to Skeena Resources from Hochschild Mining.

From 1988 to 2009, various independent companies have owned and operated claim blocks which sit within the Rock & Roll Property boundary that still exist today. Multiple ground and airborne work programs have been conducted on the property over the years, including a total of 13,923 metres of diamond drilling. At the time, the sporadic and extensive exploration projects were run by multiple operators, resulting in an uncoordinated exploration approach with poorly focused objectives.

ETR’s Black Dog deposit hosts two volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) zones – the Black Dog Zone and the SRV zone. The deposit holds a NI 43-101 compliant Inferred Resource. Black Dog’s VMS system also boasts size and scale with a mineralized system expanded over four times to 2.7 kilometres strike length, after hits in aggressive step outs in 2019. Because the deposit conforms to the classic VMS model, systems often form multiple, mineralized clusters nearby. Best of all, the high precious metal content of the Black Dog / SRV sulphide mineralization will demonstrate a significant positive future impact on the economics of the deposit, similar to the small but high-grade, past-producing Eskay Creek.

The Sugar Property is located 25 kilometres southwest of the Galore Creek deposit and 7 kilometres northwest of the Rock and Roll Property. Past mapping on the property has outlined multiple Texas Creek intrusive units that are commonly associated with important copper and/or gold deposits within the Golden Triangle including Galore Creek, KSM’s copper-gold deposit, and Pretium Resources’ (TSX.PVG) Brucejack (Valley of the Kings) gold deposit.


(Click image to enlarge)


From the CEO

Etruscus’ President, CEO and Director, Gordon Lam, specializes in helping early-stage companies with the public listing process. He is a veteran of 22-plus years experience in public markets as an Investment Advisor, independent consultant, entrepreneur, and investor, corporate and market. Stockhouse Editorial recently sat down with Mr. Lam to discuss a variety of timely topics about ETR investors need to know.

SH: What sets Etruscus Resources apart from other junior mining companies in this space and what makes their business model unique?

GL: With one of the lowest market capitalizations and tightest share structures in the BC Golden Triangle, Etruscus Resources offers arguably the best risk-reward prospect among our peers. Considering we have a gold-silver rich resource with numerous high priority prospects across a large 27,000 plus hectare property, we believe we are significantly undervalued. We are relatively unknown but with the marketing initiatives currently being implemented globally, we believe our value will be realized very soon.

SH: You’ve found some nice high-grade intercepts at your metal-rich Black Dog VMS deposit. Can you walk us through these results?

GL: In 2019, we proved that the Black Dog VMS system is much larger than any of the previous operators imagined. Our ongoing 2020 exploration program is designed to locate other areas of rich mineralization. To our surprise, we’ve also identified other areas that could host other types of mineralization, one of which could be similar to that being pursued by Seabridge Gold just 13 kilometres away.

SH: Can you update us about your active projects in 2020 – the Rock & Roll and Sugar Projects?

GL: A VTEM (Versatile Time Domain Electromagnetic) flown over the majority of our Rock & Roll and Sugar properties this year has identified several other potential areas of mineralization and we’ve expanded our exploration to follow up on these prioritized areas immediately for possibly drilling in the near future. These areas are mostly never explored or underexplored areas that have only been prospective in recent years due to glacial melting.

SH: And finally, can you discuss the long-term strategy for the company and how do you see the precious metals exploration sector evolving in northwestern BC?

GL: Since our IPO in 2019, we have implemented an aggressive staking program, multiplying our land position from about 5,000 to over 27,000 hectares. We are extremely fortunate to be able to acquire a large prospective land package around a very active location of the prolific BC Golden Triangle currently being explored by the likes of Skeena Resources and Seabridge Gold nearby. Staking these claims at inexpensive costs minimizes our dilution and protects our tight share structure. We are not done yet as we are still actively seeking other acquisitions that will accelerate our growth and goal of developing large, economic resources.


(Click image to enlarge)

(Click image to enlarge)


BC’s Golden Triangle: More of Everything.

Historically, the mineral exploration season in northwestern BC is essentially the five months from May until late-September. A number of defining factors have contributed to the massive resurgence of mining interest in the Golden Triangle. Here’s why:

• Retreating glacial ice and less snow has recently uncovered rock formations that were previously inaccessible. While temperatures can still be extremely low, the general climate in the region has been getting warmer, enabling mining operations crews to work for longer stretches of the year, even in remote areas.
• A new high-voltage transmission line delivers reliable energy at a significantly reduced cost. In turn, this decreases the reliance on unreliable and costly diesel-powered generators.
• The new Stewart-Cassiar Highway, which runs from Smithers to Stewart BC, has facilitated better road access within the area.
• With newly-developed technologies (like VTEM systems), geologists have been able to gain a greater understanding of the region’s complex geology. This allows technical personnel to build newer and more reliable geological models that improve exploration effectiveness and increase mining efficiencies.
• New ocean access shipping facilities have opened, and the port in Stewart BC now enables greater convenience and logistical support for the export of mineral concentrate. As a result, this vastly reduces transportation costs for producers while opening up better access to important markets.
• Nearby explorer and developer, Eskay Mining (TSX-V.ESK), recently completed a “highly successful” diamond drill campaign encompassing 4,335.55 metres in 20 holes at its TV-Jeff precious metal-bearing VMS target, hitting VMS style mineralization in most of their holes (the Company hit a new 52-week high of $1.20 a share on October 20th). Eskay is about 40 kilometres east of Etruscus.
• Improved relations, collaboration and cooperation between the mining industry, the British Columbia government, and the region’s two main First Nations groups – the Tahltan and the Nisga’a. This has facilitated socially-responsible mining and exploration practices, benefiting all stakeholders.

In a Stockhouse article from back in March, we detailed how the Tahtlan Nation of northwestern BC has become the ‘gold standard’ for how indigenous groups can work and partner with government and mining interests to benefit their peoples and help develop the resource sector in an environmentally sound way, while creating hundreds of new, high-paying jobs for their community and providing sound opportunities for investment.


Corporate Summary & Highlights:

• Highly experienced exploration & technical team with a history of discoveries
• Holds massive land package in the BC Golden Triangle totaling 27,136 hectares
• Five drill-ready and two near drill-ready targets
• Advancing six prospective areas towards becoming drill-ready targets
• Technical and advisory team with strong record of Golden Triangle discoveries – 200-plus years of experience and intimate knowledge of Rock & Roll Property
• Fly VTEM early in season over majority of properties
• Exploration including mapping, prospecting, and sampling to enhance drill-ready and near-drill-ready targets for drilling later in season
• Tightly-held share structure
• Market cap is a fraction of the cost of most companies in the region.

In Closing

There are a lot of junior mining companies vying for both retail and institutional investment dollars. Mining exploration doesn’t come cheap, and investors know only a small fraction of early-stage developments have the staying power and right fundamentals for success. But a closer look at Etruscus Resources’ business model provides several clues as to why their projects have ‘the right stuff.’ The Company is well-funded, well-managed, and has the right land package in the best neighbourhood, while boasting better-than-promising early drill and assay results.

Etruscus Resources checks all of the boxes. Ask any homeowner. It’s always good to be in the right neighbourhood…at the right time.


For more information about the company and investment opportunities with ETR, visit their website at etruscusresources.com.


FULL DISCLOSURE: This is a paid article produced by Stockhouse Publishing.