June 1, 2020
Equity Metals Corporation (the “Company” or “Equity Metals”) reported today receipt of a five-year, area-based exploration permit for its 100% owned Silver Queen Au-Ag Project, located near Houston in the well-mineralized Skeena Arch region of British Columbia. Initial drilling on the property will focus on the systematic resource expansion on an historic high-grade precious-metal-enriched epithermal vein system as well as the identification of new mineral discoveries to further increase existing mineral resources noted below. Three separate vein structures are targeted for exploration drilling in 2020, with the near- to mid-term objective of doubling the existing mineral resource on the property.

The permit allows for drilling exploration from 50 drill sites throughout the property and the construction of up to 6 kilometres of additional exploration trails. All sites will be accessed from a year-round camp located on the Company’s fee-simple land at the Silver Queen mine site, which is located only 40km south of Houston, British Columbia via the all-season Morice-Owen forest service road.

An initial exploration program of consisting of: i) drilling up to 3000 metres in up to 20 core holes to target the No. 3 Vein and Camp Vein; ii) verification of select historical drill intercepts; iii) completion of sampling through the entirety of the alteration halos surrounding the high-grade veins in order to evaluate potential mineralization in the halo; and iv) step-out drilling down dip and along strike to extend mineralization. Other work on the property will include surface mapping, property-wide prospecting, alteration studies and re-logging of historical drill core.

An initial NI43-101 Mineral Resource Estimate (see Note 1 below) was detailed in a News Release issued on July 16th, 2019, and using a CDN$100 NSR cut-off, reported a resource of:
•Indicated – 244,000ozs AuEq: 85,000ozs Au, 5.2Mozs Ag, 5Mlbs Cu, 17Mlbs Pb and 114Mlbs Zn; and
•Inferred – 193,000ozs AuEq: 64,000ozs Au, 4.7Mozs Ag, 5Mlbs Cu, 16Mlbs Pb and 819Mlbs Zn.

Over 20 different veins have been identified on the property, forming an extensive network of zoned, Cretaceous- to Tertiary-age epithermal veins. The resource is largely contained in the No. 3 Vein, which ranges in width from 0.5 to 4 meters.

Vice President of Exploration, Rob Macdonald commented, “The property remains largely underexplored with known mineralization being open at depth and along strike. The majority of the veins are poorly exposed at surface and have received little or no drill testing. Studies underway to more fully understand the structure, geochemical zoning, and alteration patterns should result in cost-effective exploration for extensions of known mineralization and for discovery of new, blind mineralization.”

Targeting on the No. 3 Vein

The No. 3 Vein is traced by drilling for approximately 1.2km where it transitions into the NG-3 Vein to the southeast, close to the Itsit porphyry area. Mineralization was discovered at the Silver Queen in 1912 and the No. 3 Vein was mined intermittently by separate owners in the early 1900s and again in the 1970s. Over 9000 metres of underground workings have been developed on the vein including a 900 metre decline, developed in the late 1980’s to access high-grade mineralization in the No. 3 Vein. The historic workings are currently flooded and can be easily rehabilitated.


Mineral intercepts from 194 drill holes were used to construct the current resource model for the No. 3 Vein, which has been delineated by drilling to approximately 330 metres depth. Recent 3D modelling has identified a 600-metre strike length within the central part of the vein which is associated with both higher gold grade and vein thickness (see Figure 2). The central panel is adjacent to a major flexure in the vein, which in many vein systems can be a locus for higher grade shoots of mineralization. Two large target areas, measuring 200m x 250m and 400m x 350m respectively, occur down-dip of these modelled high-grade zones and form the primary target areas for the planned near- to mid-term resource expansion on the property.

Initial testing of the No. 3 Vein will verify the continuity and grade of mineralization within the existing wire-frame with particular attention to the mineralized alteration halo around the No. 3 Vein, which historically, was not entirely assayed. Drilling will also test the potential for additional veins in the footwall and hangingwall of the No. 3 Vein and will test the down dip projection of the No. 3 vein for an additional 150 metres.


Targeting on the Camp Vein

The Camp Vein system is a blind set of four or more traceable veins located about 350 metres to the west of the No. 3 Vein. The veins were discovered by drilling in the late 1980’s. Over 50 core holes have tested and defined the Camp Vein system to date.

Mineralization in the Camp Vein system has returned some of the highest silver grades on the property, including highlight drill intervals (reported as down hole intercepts) of:
•4.6m avg 1944g/t Ag, 0.7% Pb and 1.6% Zn from hole 88-S11;
•1.5m avg 4474g/t Ag, 1.5% Pb and 2.6% Zn from hole 87-S13; and
•3.1m avg 2286g/t Ag, 0.3% Pb and 1.4% Zn from hole 87-S11

High-grade silver mineralization occurs with pyrargyrite (“ruby silver”) in low sulphide veins and in association locally with massive sphalerite and galena.

Former owners in the 1990s identified a “drill-inferred reserve” in the Camp Vein of 204,092 tonnes of 1g/t Au, 829g/t Ag and 4% Zn2 which although not yet verified by the Company, forms the basis for definition of new targets in the upcoming exploration program. Current 3D modelling of the Camp Vein has identified four different veins, traced laterally for over 300 metres and projected to over 300 metres depth, representing a target area of approximately twice that tested by historical drilling. Initial testing of the Camp Vein will focus on confirmation of earlier drill results and down-dip step-outs of high-grade, strongly silver-enriched historical drill intercepts.

The reader is cautioned that the historical “drill-inferred reserve” estimate is being treated as historical in nature. A Qualified Person has not completed sufficient work to classify the historical estimate as a current mineral resource or reserve, and the Company is not treating the historical estimate as a current mineral resource or reserve.

No Mineral Resources for the Camp Vein were included in the current NI43-101 Mineral Resource Estimate.
see Figures and more on
https://equitymetalscorporation.com/news/equity-metals-receives-five-year-exploration-permit-and-prepares-to-drill-the-silver-queen-au-ag-project-british-columbia/