VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Dec. 05, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Strategic Metals Ltd. (TSX-V:SMD) (“Strategic”) is pleased to announce new discoveries and other highlights from 2017 exploration programs it conducted on 11 of its 115 wholly owned Yukon properties. The most noteworthy results are summarized below:
Vault is located between the Alaska Highway and the Wellgreen Deposit in southwest Yukon. Several sizeable very intense gold-in-soil anomalies (100 to > 10,000 ppb) have been outlined on hillsides flanking productive placer creeks that drain the property. A boulder composed of rusty quartz vein within pyritic sericitic schist was collected from one of the soil anomalies and returned 8.27 g/t gold. This highly prospective, well located orogenic gold target has never been drilled.
Prospecting and soil sampling at Hartless Joe, which is located within Stikinia terrane in southern Yukon, doubled the size of the known precious metal system. Rock samples collected from new discoveries within a 6 x 2 km area assayed up to 49.8 g/t gold and 365 g/t silver. Epithermal and exhalite style mineralization at Hartless Joe resembles that found at some deposits in the Golden Triangle district of British Columbia.
At Saloon, expanded soil geochemical surveys and recent prospecting have identified high priority drill targets along a 1.8 km trend, extending north from the Stampede Zone where a 2016 drill hole intersected multiple mineralized horizons including an interval grading 0.40% copper and 128.46 g/t silver over 30.23 m. This prospect lies within the highly prospective Finlayson Group and may be volcanogenic.
Sawbuck is a brand new silver prospect located midway between the former Brewery Creek Mine and the Keno Hill Mining District, within the Tombstone Gold Belt. Four soil samples collected at 50 m intervals on a reconnaissance contour line averaged a remarkable 301 g/t silver with a peak of 662 g/t. Follow-up rock sampling returned 105 to 3,160 g/t silver. Cursory geological mapping suggests the mineralization has structural and stratigraphic controls.
Reconnaissance sampling and prospecting at Rod focused on newly staked claims located within a belt of known showings that lie along the Dawson Thrust Fault immediately south of ATAC Resources’ Orion Project, which is subject to a 70% earn-in agreement with Barrick Gold. This belt of showings and multi-element soil geochemical anomalies is more than 40 km long and includes Glencore’s Craig zinc-lead-silver deposit. Widely spaced soil sampling in 2017 discovered several high values including 3.4% lead and 55.7 g/t silver.
Recent staking, sampling and mapping have more than doubled the size of the target at Meloy, which lies within the Dawson Range porphyry belt. This porphyry target has the strongest geochemical signature in the district featuring very high copper-in-soil geochemical values (200 to 4,520) within a 7,000 x 3,000 m area, which contains localized clusters with strongly anomalous values for other elements. Rock sampling has returned up to 8.72% copper, 560 g/t silver, 1.47% molybdenum, 1.06 g/t gold, 3.51% tungsten, 6420 ppm tin, and >1% zinc. The core of this target has never been drilled.
Dabb is a newly recognized lead-zinc-silver prospect located in southern Yukon. Skarn mineralization collected from isolated exposures and talus within an intense, open-ended 1,900 x 700 m soil geochemical anomaly, yielded peak values of 7.29% lead, 6.51% zinc, 83.1 g/t silver and 1.57% copper. This sizeable prospect has good open pit potential.
Maps and figures pertaining to the properties described above, and to other drill-ready projects, are available at www.strategicmetalsltd.com.
Analytical work was done by ALS Minerals, with sample preparation in Whitehorse, Yukon and geochemical analyses in North Vancouver, British Columbia. Soil samples from the Vault, Saloon, Sawbuck, Rod and Dabb properties were analyzed for 51 elements by aqua regia digestion and inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectroscopy (ME-MS41) and for gold by fire assay fusion and inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry (Au-ICP21). Soil samples from the Meloy property were analyzed for gold by a 50 g fire assay fusion followed by atomic absorption spectroscopy (Au-AA24) and for 48 other elements by four acid digestion and inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectroscopy (ME-MS61). Rock samples from the Vault and Hartless Joe properties were analyzed for multi-elements using ME-MS41. Gold analyses for the Vault rock samples were completed using Au-AA24 and for Hartless Joe rock samples Au-ICP21 followed by fire assay fusion and atomic absorption spectroscopy (Au-AA25) with a precious metal analysis-screen metallic gold, double minus (Au-SCR21).
The 2017 exploration programs were conducted by Archer, Cathro & Associates (1981) Limited (“Archer Cathro”). Technical information in this news release has been approved by Heather Burrell, P. Geo., a senior geologist with Archer Cathro and a qualified person for the purpose of National Instrument 43-101.
About Strategic Metals Ltd.
Strategic is a project generator with a portfolio of more than 120 projects that are the product of over 50 years of focussed exploration and research by a team with a track record of major discoveries. Projects include 115 that are wholly-owned, 5 that are in joint-ventures, 6 that are subject to a pending sale agreement and 8 where Strategic holds royalty interests. Projects available for option, joint venture or sale include drill-confirmed prospects and drill-ready targets with high-grade surface showings, geochemical anomalies and geophysical features that resemble those at nearby deposits.
Strategic has a current cash position of over $14 million and large shareholdings in a number of active mineral exploration companies including 45.2% of GGL Resources Corp., 39.7% of Rockhaven Resources Ltd., 30.2% of Precipitate Gold Corp., 14.3% of Silver Range Resources Ltd., 9.2% Trifecta Gold Ltd., and 7.3% of ATAC Resources Ltd. These shareholdings gave Strategic indirect exposure to more than $20 million of diamond drilling in 2017, which yielded particularly favourable results from Rockhaven and ATAC.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD
“W. Douglas Eaton”
President and Chief Executive Officer
For further information concerning Strategic or its various exploration projects please visit our website at www.strategicmetalsltd.com or contact:
| Corporate Information W. Douglas Eaton President and C.E.O. Tel: (604) 688-2568 | Investor Inquiries Richard Drechsler V.P. Communications Tel: (604) 687-2522 NA Toll-Free: (888) 688-2522 rdrechsler@strategicmetalsltd.com http://www.strategicmetalsltd.com |
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This news release may contain forward looking statements based on assumptions and judgments of management regarding future events or results that may prove to be inaccurate as a result of exploration and other risk factors beyond its control, and actual results may differ materially from the expected results.