Dec 8 2014
Dolly Varden Silver Corporation is pleased to announce final results from its 2014 exploration program on the Dolly Varden project in northwestern British Columbia.
Highlights:
- Confirmed and advanced the property's potential to host additional high-grade precious metal deposits;
- Intersected 9.01 m grading 1496.78 g/t Ag within a broader zone of 25.95 m grading 712.19 g/t Ag in hole DV14010 on the Kitsol vein;
- Encountered continuous, pervasive intervals of highly anomalous silver in 7 of the 12 drill holes. Intervals range from 33.00 to 111.80 m in thickness with average grades of 3.1 to 5 g/t Ag;
- Identified strong, extensive multi-element geochemical anomalies within the Salmon River Formation.
A total of 5,280 metres in 12 core holes were completed extending over 2 kilometres to the north-northwest along the main regional structural trend from the historic Torbrit Mine, the focus of 2013 drilling. A property scale map, intersection table and geologic section of the Kitsol vein are available on the Dolly Varden website (www.dollyvardensilver.com).
The Kitsol Vein -- Holes 008, 010, and 012
Hole DV14010 returned the best assay results of the 2014 drill program. Holes 008, 010 and 012, drilled as a "fan" from one drill pad, were designed to test at depth the surface Kitsol epithermal vein showing located 800 m north-northwest of the historic Torbrit mine. DV14010 intersected a 25.95 m (22.60 m true width) brecciated, multi-phase epithermal quartz vein, averaging 712.19 g/t Ag, 0.5% lead and 0.3% zinc from drilled interval of 141.35 to 167.30 m, including a higher grade intercept of 9.01 m (7.84 m true width) grading 1496.78 g/t Ag from 144.09 to 153.1 m.
The Kitsol vein in this hole is characterized by well-defined banding, colliform textures and pyrite replacement of barite within a broader 125.45 m zone of highly altered (potassium, silica, sericite, pyrite) intermediate volcaniclastic rock. This envelope enclosing the high grade vein returned an overall grade of nearly 5 g/t Ag. DV14008 also intersected the Kitsol vein from 193.17 to 203.17 m (8.40 m true thickness; with 5.00 m grading 125.40 g/t Ag) within a broad vein envelope of similarly altered rocks (147.95 m averaging nearly 5 g/t Ag and 0.1% Zn). Hole DV14008 also intersected a silver-rich barite zone near the bottom of the hole which could represent exhalative mineralization. The third hole in the fan, DV14012 intersected the same style of alteration and mineralization as seen in the vein envelopes of holes 008 and 010 but failed to intersect significant high-grade silver veining.
The Kitsol mineralization remains open along strike to the south and the north, where it trends toward the South Musketeer vein and associated soil geochemical anomalies. Further work is warranted in this structurally complex corridor that hosts several zones of high grade mineralization.
Wolf Deposit -- Hole 009
At the historic Wolf deposit, the most northerly drill site in 2014 (over 2 km north of the Torbrit mine), DV14009 intersected a section of over 100 metres of fine-grained sedimentary rock that contained an average of 5% bedded and/or banded pyrite. Assays from this interval returned 65 metres grading 2.6 g/t Ag and 0.12% Zn. While this mineralization is not economic, it is highly anomalous and could represent primary conformable sulphide and silver mineralization hosted within the Salmon River Formation, which is the same host formation and depositional style as Eskay Creek.
Red Point -- Holes 001 and 011
Drilling at Red Point intersected pervasive alteration and associated highly anomalous but sub-economic precious metal mineralization. DV14001 intersected stockwork mineralization at the predicted DVT horizon (which hosts high-grade mineralization at the Dolly Varden and Torbrit mines), confirming the horizon's existence up to 1 km northwest of the known deposits. The Red Point target area is within a large coincident quartz-sericite-pyrite alteration zone associated with historical soil geochemistry anomalies. Further evaluation is underway.
2014 Surface Work
Other 2014 field work consisted of continued detailed geological mapping, geochemical sampling (soil, silt and heavy mineral) and ground geophysical surveys. Data gained from these programs will be integrated with historic surface data and drill results to identify targets for exploration in 2015.
2014 Exploration Program Conclusions
The 2014 exploration program was the first systematic evaluation of the Dolly Varden property as a whole, focusing on the intersection of known prospective stratigraphy with altered and mineralized structures in proximity to anomalous geochemical and geophysical signatures. It has confirmed the property's excellent potential to host additional high-grade silver mineralization (such as Torbrit and Dolly Varden deposits).
The 2014 regional exploration program successfully:
- Confirmed a direct relationship between the 7.2 km strike length potassium airborne anomaly and silver mineralization;
- Defined from drilling a vast alteration system with associated elevated silver that is host to high grade epithermal vein mineralization;
- Identified discrete linear silver soil geochemical trends within the potassium anomaly that will focus future exploration work.