Firesteel plans drill program

Exploration will begin in mid-July on the Zo lead-zinc-gold-silver property in the Tulsequah region of northwestern British Columbia.

The property, owned by Firesteel Resources (ASE), has not been drilled since the first polymetallic showings were discovered by a previous operator in the early 1980s.

Firesteel budgeted $200,000 for the work program, which includes about $150,000 for drilling. The program will test a mineralized shear zone hosted by felsic volcanics and measuring at least 360 metres long and up to 15 metres thick.

Previous chip sampling returned encouraging base and precious metal values, including one 7.9-metre portion with values of 0.089 oz. gold and 15.01 oz. silver per ton, 3.03% lead, 5.33% zinc and 3.15% antimony.

Firesteel President David DuPre said the mineralogy on the Zo property appears to bear some similarities to the Eskay Creek and Polaris-Taku deposits, both of which are in northwestern British Columbia. One such similarity is the presence of arsenic and antimony, which can pose metallurgical challenges.

“We don’t see this as a negative because antimony prices have almost doubled,” DuPre said. “In fact, we’ve recently seen it (antimony) referred to as `the new shining star’ of minor metals.”

Firesteel’s 10-hole program, totaling 900 metres, will test the known shear zone along strike and at depth, as well as provide more geological information to guide exploration elsewhere on the property.

“We already see potential for other parallel shear zones,” DuPre said. The property features moderately steep terrain and is accessible by helicopter. Several other companies are active in Tulsequah, a geologically prospective region which hosts the Tulsequah Chief massive sulphide deposit and the Polaris-Taku shear-vein gold deposit.