Vancouver — Partners
The calculation is still based on data from 1991 study by Billiton Metals Canada, which has since become part of
The estimate confirms a combined inferred resource of 19.6 million tonnes grading 3.04% zinc, 2.8% lead and 56 grams silver per tonne in the East and West zones. The figures translate into 1.3 billion lbs. zinc, 1.2 billion lbs. lead, and 35 million oz. silver.
Previously viewed as a prospective open-pit mine, the deposit is now being eyed for its underground potential. Underground development would allow mining of a lower tonnage but at higher grade. Revised cutoff grades of blocks in the resource model show an underground inferred resource of 4.1 million tonnes grading 4.6% zinc, 6.7% lead and 105 grams silver. The deposit remains open westward, along strike and downdip.
The Blende project is a carbonate-hosted silver-lead-zinc deposit occurring in dolomites. Mineralization is evident along a 6-km-long-by-200-metre-wide shear zone and forms the matrix in a series of parallel breccia zones. The principal minerals are sphalerite, galena, pyrite, minor chalcopyrite and tetrahedrite.
Previous work on the project (since the mid-1970s) included mapping, geochemical sampling, and more than 16,000 metres of drilling.
Shoshone is earning a 60% interest in Eagle Plains’ project by spening US$5 million on exploration and issuing 1 million shares by the end of 2008. There is a 1% net smelter return royalty on the deposit.
Eagle Plains has 36.3 million shares outstanding and trades at around 60.
Much of the market’s attention is focused on the company’s Copper Canyon project, in northwestern British Columbia. Copper Canyon is adjacent to the advanced Galore Creek project and under option to
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