Skeena starts underground exploration at Snip

13th October 2017 By: Henry Lazenby - Creamer Media Deputy Editor: North America

VANCOUVER (miningweekly.com) – Exploration and development company Skeena Resources has started underground drilling at its 100%-owned Snip gold project, located in the Golden Triangle of north-west British Columbia.

The programme will comprise 9 000 m of drilling spread across 73 holes.

“I’m glad to report that underground services and survey controls have been established at Snip and we’ve started drilling. The onsite team has worked extremely hard to reach this point. We now have the ability to continue drilling through the winter, which is usually not possible for exploration projects in the Golden Triangle,” stated CEO Walter Coles Jr in a news release Friday.

Skeena, which owns or controls several exploration-stage properties, including the past-producing Snip gold mine it acquired under an option agreement from Barrick Gold in July, engaged DMAC Drilling to complete the diamond drill programme. The first 26 holes will be drilled from the 300-m level to target mineralisation in the Twin Zone and 150 Vein. Drilling is intended to confirm and extend gold mineralisation left behind by the previous operator.

Future holes will target the 130 Vein, the 412 Zone and the newly defined 200 Footwall Zone. A second drill rig will be mobilised to site shortly, the explorer advised.

Skeena reported earlier this week that it has received the first tranche of a C$6-million financing from Gold Mountains Asset Management, a subsidiary of Chinese-based Zijin Mining Group Company (Zijin) and certain clients and affiliates of the Sprott Group of Companies.

The company on Tuesday received C$3-million from the sale of 41.67-million flow-through units, at a price of C$0.072 each. Each unit comprises one flow-through common share and one half of a warrant. Each whole warrant entitles the holder to acquire one additional non-flow-through common share of Skeena at a price of C$0.10 for 24 months following closing.

The net proceeds of the financing will be used to fund ongoing exploration programmes.