Aug 9 2016
Eskay Mining Corp. ("Eskay" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has placed 600,000 flow-through units (the "FT Units") of the Company at a price of $0.25 per FT Unit for proceeds of $150,000.
The proceeds of the financing will be used to fund a field-driven reevaluation of Eskay's 100% owned Corey property, with a small amount of work scheduled for its adjacent 80% owned SIB Property which is held with co-venturer Kirkland Lake Gold Inc. Together, these properties constitute nearly 55,000 hectares in the heart of the Golden Triangle of northwest British Columbia. The properties border Seabridge Gold Inc.'s KSM project, with its four major Cu-Au deposits, along much of its western and northern borders, and where they are continuous along trend from Barrick's truly world-class past-producing Eskay Creek Mine. Another significant block of Eskay's holdings borders Pretivm Resources Inc.'s Brucejack property along part of its northern boundary. Eskay's properties are highlighted on claim maps which may be viewed on its website (http://www.eskaymining.com/properties.asp).
Previous exploration activities on the properties, conducted by Eskay Mining, by its predecessors, and by others, included surface grid work (e.g., geologic mapping, soil and rock geochemical sampling, and Induced Polarization (IP) surveying), airborne geophysical surveying, and diamond drilling. Much of that work, recently compiled and modeled in 3-D, was completed in the years following the late 1980's discovery of the Eskay Creek deposit, the world's richest precious metals-bearing volcanic hosted massive sulphide deposit, from which Homestake and Barrick mined approximately 3.3 million ounces Au and 180 million ounces Ag between 1994 and 2008. Understandably, the model for much of the exploration in the district, and indeed on Eskay Mining's holdings, which include the SIB Property that lies immediately south-southwest of the mine property, was that of the rich Eskay Creek deposit, which is hosted by distinctive late Early to early Middle Jurassic marine volcanic stratigraphy that was folded and faulted in middle Cretaceous time. Stratified rocks of similar age and composition, as well as depositional and structural setting, are continuous with those on Barrick's property and are present throughout the western part of Eskay Mining's holdings.
In recent years, deep drilling by Seabridge (KSM property: Kerr, Sulphurets, Mitchell and Iron Cap Cu-Au deposits) and Pretivm (Brucejack property: Valley of Kings and Snowfield deposits) has delineated truly world-class orebodies. The orebodies are slightly older than at Eskay and occur in different geological settings. These differences necessitate a somewhat different approach to exploration, and in light of this, and in light of significant recent glacial retreat in the area, Eskay is re-evaluating its known mineral occurrences, and is revisiting the parts of the properties which border the big deposits of its neighbours. Eskay's known occurrences include those west of KSM, such as C10, where drilling in 2005 returned 99.4 g/t gold over 1.5 meters, GFJ, where prospecting has returned grab samples up to 94.5 g/t gold and 175 g/t Ag, and TM, where prospecting has returned grab samples up to 173.4 g/t Au and 204 g/t Ag.
At Eskay Mining's SIB Project, the Company is planning to advance a deep-drilling program to further test for Eskay Mine-style mineralization at depth. Shortly after the discovery of the Eskay Creek deposit, Eskay-style Au-Ag-Zn-Pb-Cu rich stratiform sulphides were discovered on the SIB property. This included a drill intersection of 14.3 meters of 14.4 g/t gold and 1059.8 g/t silver. The work led to follow-up drill campaigns at the SIB along the "Eskay trend," in which a considerable number of relatively shallow diamond drill holes, and a small number of deeper ones, led to the interpretation that the distinctive rocks crucial to the Eskay Creek mine geologic model, were faulted off at depth across the Coulter Creek thrust fault. Subsequent drilling by Eskay in 2008 and 2010 showed, however, that the offset on the thrust is not great, and that stratified rocks in its footwall are similar to those in its hangingwall and they are also similar to those at the Eskay Creek mine. These include distinctive tholeiitic submarine rhyolitic volcanic rocks (the "Eskay rhyolite") which appear to represent a crucial component of ore controls at the mine. While the drilling in 2008 and 2010 did not intersect Eskay Mine-style high-grade stratiform mineralization, the drilling did intersect lower-grade mineralization with highly anomalous "Eskay-like" metal signatures (Au, Ag, Zn, Pb, As and Sb). Furthermore, the drilling tested only a very limited part of the stratigraphic section, across a very limited strike length. As a consequence, the SIB Project represents an attractive exploration target, with the very real upside being discovery of a deposit similar to that of the Eskay Creek Mine. Following completion of this program, the Company plans to systematically drill-test the approximately five kilometers of untested strike length with hole depths up to 1200 meters.
Each FT Unit comprises one (1) common share of the Company and one (1) common share purchase warrant (each a "Warrant"). Each Warrant entitles the holder to acquire one (1) common share at a price of $0.35 until the earlier of (i) two (2) years from Closing; and (ii) in the event that the closing price of the common shares on the TSX Venture Exchange is at least $0.40 for twenty (20) consecutive trading days, and the 20th trading day (the "Final Trading Day") is at least four (4) months from the Closing, the date which is thirty (30) days from the Final Trading Day. All securities issued pursuant to the Offering are subject to a statutory four month hold period expiring on December 6, 2016.
Charles J. Greig, P. Geo., a member of the Company's Advisory Team, is a Qualified Person under the definition of National Instrument 43-101. Mr. Greig has reviewed and approved the technical information in this press release.