Eskay Creek and Snip in British Columbia’s Golden Triangle were two of the richest gold mines in history.
Now, tiny Skeena Resources has acquired both these storied deposits and stands on the cusp of breathing new life into them.
Dear Fellow Investor,
British Columbia’s Golden Triangle. It’s a region that has a well-earned reputation for hosting both large and high-grade metal deposits.
But nothing ever discovered compared with the legendary Eskay Creek and Snip deposits.
These were not only two of the richest mines in the region, but they rank near the top of the highest-grade gold mines ever...anywhere in the world.
Still, low gold prices and high energy costs forced them to close after years of production...leaving vast amounts of high-grade gold with little hope of being exploited.
Until now.
Because an upstart junior explorer is stunning the market with its ambitious plans to bring these two legendary mines back into production.
That company is Skeena Resources, a talent-laden group with a remarkable plan to turn these famous gold deposits into operating mines again...and to enrich its shareholders in the process.
New Life For Eskay Creek
Eskay Creek’s production numbers speak for themselves.
Over a 14-year mine life, beginning in 1994, the mine produced 3.3 million ounces of gold and 160 million ounces of silver at stunning grades of 45 g/t for the gold and 2,224 g/t for the silver.
Eskay Creek was once the world’s highest-grade gold mine and the fifth-largest silver mine by volume.
A combination of lower gold prices and a lack of sufficient infrastructure in the area convinced Barrick to shutter the mine in the mid-2000s. But here’s the thing: There was still significant mineralization left at Eskay Creek.
After optioning the property in late 2017, Skeena went to work establishing the broad potential of that remaining mineralization.
That work led to the company’s maiden resource estimate, released in September, that showed Eskay Creek to host an indicated resource of 1.02 million gold-equivalent ounces and an inferred resource of 850,000 gold-equivalent ounces.
The next step is to test the exploration potential of the remnant zones from Barrick’s production years. The company has embarked on a drilling program to do just that.
Grades Beyond Dreams
If the initial results from this work at Eskay Creek as any indication, the project has plenty of life left.
The grades Skeena has encountered drilling the project’s 21A target have been nothing short of extraordinary. We’re talking about incredibly long widths of ultra-high-grade gold.
Consider these highlights of recent results:
• 23.45 g/t gold-equivalent over 28.5 meters
• 43.39 g/t gold-equivalent over 27.7 meters
• 10.09 g/t gold-equivalent over 45 meters
In a world where 1.0 g/t gold is often considered mineable, these are assays that would have any junior explorer doing backflips with excitement. And they are par for the course for Eskay Creek.
Better still, this is not the only historic high-grade producer in Skeena’s portfolio…
Fabled Snip Comes Back Alive
Snip is the other Golden Triangle project in the Skeena fold. Like Eskay Creek, Snip was purchased from Barrick in 2017.
The high-grade project produced around one million ounces of gold at an incredibly high average gold grade of 27.5 g/t between 1991 and 1999. But again, low gold prices and a lack of infrastructure in the area conspired to make Snip uneconomic.
Fast forward to 2018, and gold is trading at $1,200/ounce instead of $300/ounce. And, just as important, the infrastructure in the region is much more robust. More on this in a moment...but first, let’s look at Skeena’s current plans for Snip.
The company has already modelled 280,000 meters of historical drill data from the project, engaged in 7,200-meter surface drill program, and completed Phase 1 (8,650 meters) and Phase 2 (9,583 meters) of an underground drill program at Snip.
The results have indicated that Snip has a lot of life still left in it.
And, in a strong endorsement of the mine’s prospects, Hochschild Mining Holdings recently partnered with Skeena on Snip, taking an option for a 60% interest in the project while investing in C$6.77 million worth of Skeena shares at C$0.90/share.
The cash injection will give Skeena money to continue exploring both Snip and Eskay Creek. The option, if exercised, gives the company a deep-pocketed partner to maximize value at Snip.
A Vast Improvement In Golden Triangle Infrastructure
It’s worth highlighting the work that has been done on the infrastructure front in recent years in the Golden Triangle.
As more and more projects have been developed in the area, the province has built roads and dams to facilitate that development.
Recent improvements include:
• Paving of the Steward-Cassiar highway north from the town of Smithers
• Development of ocean port facilities for concentrate export from Stewart
• Completion of BC Hydro’s 287 kilovolt Northwest Transmission line
• Completion of the McLymont Creek hydroelectric facility just 20 kilometers east of Snip
With easier access to both Snip and Eskay Creek and improved power capacity in the region, the higher costs that helped shutter these projects will be lowered considerably.
Your Window To Buy Is Closing
The next few months are a critical time for potential investors in Skeena.
First, the gold market is on the verge of a big breakout to the upside. In that environment, companies with high-potential (and high-grade) deposits like Skeena should do extremely well.
Second, if the timing works out as expected, Skeena will be generating a new resource estimate for Snip just as the gold market is hitting its stride.
Bottom line: There are few companies better positioned to benefit from an improved environment for gold.
CLICK HERE
To Learn More About Skeena Resources
