Mr. Peeyush Varshney reports
ZINCX RESOURCES PROVIDES EXPLORATION UPDATE AT AKIE
Zincx Resources Corp. has provided an update on drilling activities at the flagship Akie property. The company previously announced a planned 2,500-metre large-diameter HQ diamond drilling program that focused on high-priority targets along strike of the Cardiac Creek deposit and on the eastern Akie Gunsteel panel.
2018 drill objectives:
Drill test the southeastern strike extent of the Cardiac Creek deposit beyond the current limits of the resource model;Drill test the downdip extent of the north lead target where previous drilling intersected extensive intervals of bedded pyrite mineralisation and a thin massive sulphide lens that are both highly anomalous in zinc and lead;drill targeting guided by a new facies model developed from the mineralization on the Akie and Mount Alcock properties;Shallow drill targets at the Sitka showing to test the zinc-lead-barite mineralization outcropping at surface where previous channel sampling in 2013 returned high-grade assay results.
Drilling has now been completed at the Sitka target. A total of 508 metres were completed in two holes from the same drill pad. Drill hole A-18-144 was a steeply angled hole targeting the downdip extension of the massive mineralized barite body seen at surface. Drill hole A-18-145 was a shallower angled hole testing the same zone updip of the intercept from drill hole A-18-144. The showing is situated along the highly prospective contact between the Earn group (Gunsteel formation shale) and Silurian siltstone.
DDH A-18-144
Drill hole 144 (the deeper hole) intersected sphalerite-bearing veins within both the Road River Silurian siltstone and underlying Kwadacha limestone. Mineralization and veining was logged from 173.50 to 216.90 metres downhole. The veining is concentrated locally with abundant coarse-grained sphalerite with a total aggregate length of just over four metres. There is also scattered sphalerite present throughout the limestone from 200 to 216 metres within fractures and stringers.
DDH A-18-145
Hole 145 (the shallow hole) intersected sphalerite-bearing veins primarily within siltstones that are spread out across an interval from 148.13 to 175.57 metres with more localized concentrations of sphalerite-bearing veins. The total aggregate of well-mineralized vein material would be in the order of four metres.
The mineralization observed in the two holes from the Sitka showing differs from the sedex-style (sedimentary exhalative) laminated, stratabound mineralization known from the Cardiac Creek deposit. The mineralization intersected at Sitka appears to be vein related and the veins host abundant coarse-grained red/tan/brown sphalerite. At this time there is no conclusive identification of the Sitka barite-sphalerite-galena vein/structure seen at surface; however, the holes did encounter mineralization to a depth of 100 metres below surface which remains open for future drilling. Samples have been cut and shipped to the lab for assay. Results are expected in several weeks.
DDH A-18-147
After completion of Sitka drilling the drill was moved to test the southeast extension zone which is located approximately 215 metres southeast and along strike of the Cardiac Creek deposit. The first hole (A-18-146) was stopped near the collar due to excessive deviation. The second hole (A-18-147) was completed but did experience downhole deviation and finished approximately 55 metres updip of the target depth. A very thick interval of distal facies pyrite with barite was intersected from 340.5 to 423.4 metres in Gunsteel formation shale. This interval appears to be a hybrid between the typical pyrite-barite-dominated distal facies and the thickly bedded pyrite of the proximal facies that is usually present above the main zone at Cardiac Creek. Sulphides and barite were also observed in underlying limestone. The presence of limestone suggests that the drill hole deviated too high in this area to effectively target the deeper transition point between Gunsteel formation shale and limestone known from drilling at Cardiac Creek. Results are pending from samples taken. The company is considering a further test of this location but at a much steeper angle.
The drill has now moved to the north lead target area to test the downdip extension of known mineralization present in A-13-104.
HEBS (hyperenriched black shales) mineralization
The company recently hosted senior geologists from the Geological Survey of Canada and Queen's University who are researching the unusual nickel-dominated mineralization that has been intersected below the Cardiac Creek zone in several holes over the past several years and generally referred to as Nick-style mineralization. Work consisted of relogging the drill core from various drill holes and collecting samples for analysis.
The goal of this research is to develop a coherent genetic and exploration model for the metalliferous shale horizon that is situated stratigraphically below the Cardiac Creek Zn-Pb-Ag deposit. This will provide an understanding of metalliferous shales in the southernmost exposure of such mineralization in the Selwyn basin, and serve as a comparison with similar mineralization in Yukon. The possible spatial and temporal linkages between this metalliferous shale and the overlying sedex mineralization will also be investigated. The research is expected to lead to various academic papers expected to be published later in 2018/2019.
Corporate
Peeyush Varshney, president and chief executive officer of the company, commented: "We are pleased to be continuing on with our 2018 exploration program on the Akie property.With the recent announcement of the positive preliminary economic assessment of the Cardiac Creek deposit combined with recent M&A activity in the base metals sector, we are seeing increasing strong interest in the company and our flagship project from mining groups and strategic investors alike. We are pleased to see recognition of the quality of the Cardiac Creek asset and the prospectivity of the district-scale opportunity for further discovery in the Kechika trough.We thank our shareholders for their continued support."
The Akie Zn-Pb-Ag project
The 100-per-cent-owned Akie property is situated within the Kechika trough, the southernmost area of the regionally extensive Paleozoic Selwyn basin and one of the most prolific sedimentary basins in the world for the occurrence of sedex zinc-lead-silver and stratiform barite deposits.
Drilling on the Akie property by Zincx Resources (formerly Canada Zinc Metals Corp.) since 2005 has identified a significant body of baritic-zinc-lead sedex mineralization known as the Cardiac Creek deposit. The deposit is hosted by siliceous, carbonaceous, fine-grained clastic rocks of the Middle to Late Devonian Gunsteel formation.
With additional drilling completed in 2017, the company has updated the estimate of mineral resources at Cardiac Creek, as shown in the associated table.
5% zinc cut-off gradeContained metalCategory TonnesZnPb AgZn PbAg(million) (%) (%)(g/t) (blb)(blb) (moz)Indicated22.78.321.61 14.1 4.1620.80410.3Inferred7.57.041.24 12.0 1.1690.205 2.9
The company announced robust positive results from the 2018 preliminary economic assessment (PEA). The PEA envisages a conventional underground mine and concentrator operation with an average production rate of 4,000 tonnes per day. The mine will have an 18-year life with potential to extend the life of mine (LOM) through resource expansion at depth.
Pretax After-taxNPV7%IRR NPV7% IRR$649M35% $401M 27%The base case parameters for the PEA used $1.21 (U.S.)/pound zinc, $1 (U.S.)/pound lead and $16.50 (U.S.)/ounce silver.See the company's news releases from June 20, 2018, for important disclosures with respect to the Cardiac Creek PEA.The PEA is considered preliminary in nature and includes mineral resources, including inferred mineral resources that are considered too speculative geologically to have the economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves. Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves have not yet demonstrated economic viability. Due to the uncertainty that may be attached to mineral resources, it cannot be assumed that all or any part of a mineral resource will be upgraded to mineral reserves. Therefore, there is no certainty that the results concluded in the PEA will be realized.
Kechika regional project
In addition to the Akie project, the company owns 100 per cent of eight of 11 large, contiguous property blocks that comprise the Kechika regional project including the advanced Mount Alcock prospect. The Kechika regional project also includes the Pie, Yuen and Cirque East properties within which the company maintains a significant 49-per-cent interest with partners Teck Resources Ltd. and Korea Zinc Co. Ltd. These properties collectively extend northwest from the Akie property for approximately 140 kilometres covering the highly prospective Gunsteel formation shale; the main host rock for known sedex zinc-lead-silver deposits in the Kechika trough of northeastern British Columbia. These projects are located approximately 260 kilometres north-northwest of the town of Mackenzie, B.C.
Ken MacDonald, PGeo, vice-president of exploration for the company, is the designated qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 and is responsible for the technical information contained in this release. Mike Makarenko, PEng, JDS Energy and Mining, is the designated qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 and is responsible for the PEA technical information contained in this release.
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