Silver Coin Project Summary
Silver Coin is an advanced-stage, gold-silver property located 25 kilometers north of Stewart, British Columbia in the Skeena Mining Division. The project covers approximately 1,250 hectares and features a zone of faulting and shearing with accompanying mineralization up to 300 meters wide that has been traced for 2.5 kilometers. Silver Coin shares many characteristics with the nearby Silbak-Premier Mine, located just 5km to the south. Over its mine life, the Silbak-Premier Mine produced 4.7 million tons yielding approximately 1.8 million ounces gold, 41 million ounces silver, 4.2 million pounds copper, 62 million pounds lead and 20 million pounds zinc.
Through 2010, 760 holes totaling approximately 90,370 meters have been completed at Silver Coin. This drilling has partially outlined a gold-silver mineralized body that remains open to the north and north-west. 2011 program will include approximately 100 new holes, designed to upgrade resource classifications and expand the existing resource.
Current Work
Environmental Studies
In 2009, Cambria Gordon Ltd., an environmental consulting firm based in Terrace, B.C. was engaged to complete environmental baseline studies of the Silver Coin project with the goal of assessing existing water quality, fauna and flora concerns and potential sites for tailings disposal. Specifically, their work included:
- Preliminary limnology of No-Name Lake, a proposed site for tailings disposal;
- Stream flow measurements to commence hydrological database and provide information for year-round water supply for the project;
- Preliminary baseline water quality monitoring plan to determine sampling locations for sample collection sites for chemical analyses; and
- Assessment of the presence, or absence, of rare and/or endangered species.
Baseline surface water studies and data collection to support these studies is continuing with additional sampling and monitoring. Geochemical characterization of waste rock and low grade mineralization are underway, to determine the acid generating potential of Silver Coin, and appropriate mitigation measures. AMEC Earth & Environmental Inc., Vancouver, B.C., is supervising these programs.
Metallurgical Studies
Metallurgical testing at Silver Coin has been ongoing since November 2008 by Frank Wright of F. Wright Consulting Inc. Results to date have shown that Silver Coin exhibits very favourable metallurgical characteristics. The laboratory test program to date has investigated flotation and cyanide leaching procedures.
Depending on the sample and procedures that were used, the gold recoveries varied from 85% to 95% for cyanidation. Initial open cycle flotation tests provided an excellent bulk yield of over 95% gold into a rougher concentrate. The results from a locked cycle test provided gold and silver recoveries of approximately 90%. Future metallurgical work will focus on optimizing flotation procedures for rejecting pyrite to produce a cleaned bulk gold-silver concentrate. The nearby deep water port and loading facility at Stewart is ideally located for transport of Silver Coin concentrate.
During September 2009, bulk samples were collected from trenches in the mineralized zone at Silver Coin to provide samples for work index studies.
Metallurgical testing is continuing in an effort to optimize recoveries. In 2011, a new composite bulk sample will be generated for additional flotation and cyanidation testing.
Conclusion
Silver Coin is a significant gold resource which has yet to be fully delineated by drilling. Potential to significantly expand the resource exists along strike, particularly to the north. It is located in a district, now known as the Stewart Camp, which contains widespread and abundant alteration and mineralized prospects, including one of B.C.’s most important past-producers, the Silbak-Premier Mine. Ongoing work for 2011 includes infill and step-out drilling to upgrade resource categories and grow the resource, further metallurgical test work, further baseline environmental studies & EIA, and detailed process design & mine planning.
With the advantages of a high tension power line grid within kilometers, a nearby mill, the well-maintained Granduc Road crossing the property leading to the Pacific’s Portland Canal, and a concentrate shipping facility in Stewart, Silver Coin is a very attractive mining project.