Golden Triangle ExplorerCo, Aben Resources (ABN.V), recently reported assay results from the North Boundary zone at their Forrest Kerr Project in BC’s Golden Triangle.
These follow-up assays from North Boundary were eagerly anticipated.
The company states that these results indicate the presence of a coherent zone of vein-hosted mineralization extending up to thirty meters outward from the high-grade gold intercepts reported in holes FK17-4,5,6 (2017 drill program) & FK18-10 (summer of 2018 drill program).
Review of previous high-grade results…
The high-grade hits reported in the summers of 2017 and 2018 (bold text) include the following:
- Hole FK17-04 which returned 10 metres of 6.7 g/t gold, 6.36 g/t silver, 0.9% copper and 3.0 metres of 18.9 g/t gold, 16.6 g/t silver and 2.2% copper.
- Hole FK17-05 which returned a broad intercept of 1.2 g/t gold, 1.8 g/t silver and 0.21% copper over 122 metres that included 10.9 g/t gold, 14.6 g/t silver and 1.5% copper over 12 metres with a high-grade core of 21.5 g/t gold, 28.5 g/t silver and 3.1% copper over 6 metres
- Hole FK17-06 which returned 0.51 g/t gold, 1.03 g/t silver and 0.1% copper over 94 metres including 2.91 g/t gold, 5.2 g/t silver and 0.6% copper over 14 metres
- Hole FK18-10 which returned four separate high-grade zones with the best zone returning an interval of 38.7 g/t gold over 10.0m including 62.4 g/t gold over 6.0m starting at 114 metres downhole.
Highlights from the November 19th news release include:
- Hole FK18-32 which returned 0.8 g/t gold over 11 meters.
- Hole FK18-33 which returned 0.7 g/t gold over 14 meters.
- Hole FK18-34 which returned 1.2 g/t gold over 21 meters.
- Hole FK18-35 which returned 0.8 g/t gold over 15 meters.
- Hole FK18-36 which returned 0.46 g/t gold over 17 meters.
The mineralization defined by these intervals extends for over thirty meters along strike and remains open in multiple directions.
Drilling has extended the mineralized envelope surrounding the 2017 and 2018 high-grade gold discoveries at North Boundary. This round of focused drilling tested for the depth and lateral extension of known mineralized shear and vein sets located in the North Boundary Zone. Broad horizons of low to moderate grade gold mineralization were encountered in several of the 15 drill holes (FK18-22 à36) reported herein, while all drill holes encountered discrete polymetallic vein hosted mineralization with gold values ranging from trace amounts to 13 grams per tonne (g/t) over 1 meter.
It’s important to note that Aben’s drilling objectives were constrained due to a delay in receiving an updated MX permit from the BC gov’t. Extreme forest fire activity in the area prompted the delay. As a consequence, the last phase of drilling was completed from only three pad locations.
The company is now in receipt of its muchly anticipated five year Multi-Year Area Based permit. This will give them much greater freedom and control in positioning the drill bit.
Unique geological setting…
The mineralization at the North Boundary zone is structurally controlled and hosted in a package of volcanic and volcaniclastic rocks from the Jurassic Hazelton Group.
“The Boundary Zone lies between the Forrest Kerr Fault to the west, a major deep-seated crustal feature, and the unconformable contact between the Jurassic Hazelton Group and the Triassic Stuhini Group to the East. The rock reflects a prolonged history of strong hydrothermal activity combined with brittle deformation. The host package Hazelton is known to be a prolific host to several deposits throughout the region.”
In a previous Guru offering, we talked about this unique geological feature, the volcanic and volcaniclastic rocks from the Jurassic Hazelton Group that define Forrest Kerr…
The line of intrigue – The Kyba ‘Red Line’:
The Golden Triangle has been active for decades. The Premier Mine, one of the more storied of the regions historical mines, began production early in the last century. The geological genesis of the Triangle’s porphyry and intrusion-related copper and gold deposits have been wrapped in mystery since those early days.
A few years back, Jeff Kyba and Joanne Nelson from the B.C. Geological Survey embarked on a quest to identify the geological / topographical markers responsible the Triangle’s impressive orebodies – the identity of which they hoped would help shed light on the extremely rich (and pervasive) subsurface mineralization of the region.
What they discovered changed the way geologists now view this uber-rich gold and copper district.
Jeff Kyba hypothesized that the geologic contact between the regions Triassic age Stuhini rocks and Jurassic age Hazelton rocks plays host to many of the world-class copper-gold deposits in the Triangle. Curiously, Kyba’s research revealed that the majority of these deposits lie within two kilometers of this regional stratigraphic contact point.
Two kilometers from this regional stratigraphic contact – the Kyba Red Line – is the Golden Triangle’s sweet spot.
An appreciation and understanding of this Red Line now allows companies actively exploring the region to more effectively hone in on undiscovered mineralized potential.
Aben President and CEO, Jim Pettit, had the following to say regarding these new assays:
“Drilling to date has shown that mineralization extends several meters outboard of the high-grade area within subordinate shear structures and vein arrays. Oriented core tooling was utilized for this phase of drilling in order to collect structural data that will help determine the orientation of both the main and subsidiary mineralized structures. The oriented core data, combined with the surface mapping data and a growing subsurface database at the Boundary Zone will assist greatly in planning future targeted drill programs.”
There’s more to Aben Resources. Much more…
Justin…
The company’s 18,314 acre 100% owned Justin Gold Project, located in the southeast Yukon, lies adjacent to Golden Predator’s 3 Aces project.
Justin has the potential to host both high-grade and bulk-tonnage deposits within three different styles of mineralization: epithermal, skarn and sediment-hosted.
A 3.5 kilometer long by 0.5 kilometer wide NNW trending anomaly indicates widespread mineralization encompassing the projects four main zones: Confluence, Main, Kangas, and POW.
A greenfields discovery – an Intrusive Related Gold System (IRGS) – was made on the POW zone during a 2011 drilling campaign.
The November 19th Justin Gold Project update…
Aben Resources is currently finalizing analytical results from field work completed in September 2018 on its 100% owned Justin Gold Property in the Yukon Territory. The geologic team reports visible gold in trenches and channel samples from quartz stockwork veining in bedrock at the Lost Ace Zone, a gold-bearing zone discovered in 2017. Channel sampling in 2017 at Lost Ace returned 1.44 g/t Au over 5m including 4.77 g/t Au over 1.0 m in addition to a bulk soil sample that contained 1135 visible gold grains, the majority of which were termed ‘pristine’ indicating a proximal bedrock source for the gold. Lost Ace is an exciting new prospect on the Justin Property as it is located within 2km of the main mineralized POW Zone and bears striking similarities to Golden Predators adjacent 3 Ace Property.
This is a highly prospective property. It could see significant drilling during the next field season. Visible gold in channel samples along recent trenching, as well as the 1135 visible gold grains obtained from a previous bulk soil sample, elevate the prospective nature of this project. Assays from recent trenching are pending.
Chico…
The company’s Chico property lies just south of SSR Mining’s high-grade Seabee Gold Operation in Northern Saskatchewan.
According to a recent SSR update, infill and exploration drilling at Seebea/Santoy included 35,258 meters from underground (in 104 holes) and 15,390 meters from surface (in 61 holes). This is an aggressive program.
Results from this recent SSR exploration drilling include the following intercepts:
Drillhole SUG-18-622 intersected 25.6 g/t gold over 4.1 meters true width.
Drillhole SUG-18-612 intersected 12.3 g/t gold over 4.8 meters true width.
Note the close proximity of Aben’s Chico project to Seabee/Santoy, highlighted in yellow (above map).
The Chico project shares similar structural features to SSR’s Seabee and Santoy deposits:
- Shear hosted gold bearing quartz veining in secondary splays.
- Multi-episodic tension gash, ribbon and sheeted quartz vein arrays.
- Gabbro and granite host rocks.
- Positive gold, copper and silver geochemical associations.
- Potassic, carbonate, hematite, calc-silicate and silica alteration.
The Chico trend extends over 1.5 kilometers.
Aben has an option to earn up to 80% in the project.
Importantly, this property can be worked all year round.
Also important to note: SSR acquired the Seabee/Santoy project through its acquisition of Claude Resources in a deal valued at $337 million.
Aben is monitoring progress in the area closely. They’re tuned-into SSR’s discovery model. They should be well prepared when they put boots to the ground early next year.
Final thoughts…
The company still has nine additional holes to report from their Forrest Kerr property in BC’s Golden Triangle. But there’s far more percolating under the surface here: channel samples from Justin are on deck and Chico should begin producing newsflow early in the new year.
END
~ ~ Dirk Diggler
Full disclosure: Aben is an Equity Guru client.