Sun Summit eyes first resource at Buck gold-silver-zinc project in BC

Sun Summit Minerals (TSXV: SMN; US-OTC: SMREF) says 2023 could be a decisive year for the company’s Buck gold/silver/zinc project in north-central British Columbia. A set of 3,000 metres of outstanding drill results will shed light on how large the emerging epithermal system is, and company president Sharyn Alexander says an initial resource could be ready before the year is out.

“With the results of the recent batch of drilling coming out very shortly, 2023 will be a time where we’ll start considering whether or not this is something that we’d like to put a resource on or continue drilling,” Alexander says.

The Buck property has a rich background as a former placer gold camp in the early 20^th century, and Alexander says there is evidence of early mining through adits dating to the 1910s and 20s.

The project was historically also drilled by Hunter Dickinson International (HDI) in 2019, during a low gold price period, before the company optioned the property from Richard Billingsley, a B.C. prospector who also vended the Tatogga project to GT Gold (who were then bought out by Newmont (TSX: NGT; NYSE: NEM)  in 2021.

Part of the Late Cretaceous Kasalka Group, the Buck deposit is potentially similar to significant bulk-tonnage gold deposits in B.C., such as Artemis Gold’s (TSXV: ARTG) Blackwater gold project, which is slated to pour first gold in 2026.

So far, Sun Summit’s (formerly San Marco Resources) work near the town of Houston has confirmed the presence of an extensive hydrothermal system featuring intensely altered breccia bodies, with mineralization still open in all directions.

Drilling campaigns since 2020 have consistently intersected broad new zones of mineralization, with step-out drilling preferred as the team tries to establish the lateral footprint of the Buck Main mineralized structure.

“We have confirmed that Buck Main hosts these large intercepts of near-surface mineralization. We have intercepts of up to 300 metres from surface of 0.5 gram gold per tonne, up to 1 gram. And when you work in a gold-equivalent calculation, which includes gold, silver, and zinc, were have more than a gram per tonne over 300 meters right from surface,” says Alexander.

Late in 2020, the company started tracing a high-grade discovery. Follow-up work in early 2021 delivered strong grades not seen on the property before. These include 1.5 metres grading close to 50 grams gold per tonne, and 0.5 metre of 250 grams gold per tonne. “These were very high grades that we were very excited to find. It affected our share price and changed how we saw the system,” Alexander says.

Aided by year-round field access, Sun Summit has drilled 82 holes to date. “We’re now up to about a kilometre of strike length, which is quite sizeable. And so, every time we’ve drilled, we’ve stepped out and increased the mineralized footprints,” Alexander says.

The deposit was emplaced by multiple fluid events, resulting in a relatively complex style of mineralization. “Despite being complex, we know there’s a lot of it, and it’s near the surface,” she says.

Sun Summit has been focused on confirming the size of the Buck Main deposit’s mineralized footprint. But the recent receipt of a property-wide exploration permit will allow it to drill test other priority regional targets for the first time. “For example, Eagle Eye and Irk have interesting geophysical and geochemical anomalies. There is porphyry potential,” Alexander notes.

The company is also completing a second stage of metallurgical testing.

As noted, the closest analogue for the Buck project is Artemis Gold’s Blackwater project. It entails a low-cost mine project with substantial resources in the same geological setting and age of rocks.

Artemis has about 12.4 million gold-equivalent oz. in the measured and indicated categories at Blackwater, held in 596.8 million tonnes grading 0.65 gram gold-equivalent per tonne. The proven and probable reserve base is estimated at 8 million oz. gold contained in 325.1 million tonnes of run-of-mine ore grading 0.74 gram gold per tonne.

“These are the kind of grades that we’re seeing at Buck, if not higher,” Alexander says.

With Buck still open in all directions, laterally and at depth, it gives Sun Summit an exploration target to aim at.

Like most junior explorers, Sun Summit’s Toronto-quoted equity has come under severe pressure amid volatile markets, dropping 75% over the past 12 months to 14¢, giving it a market cap of $10.9 million.