Calpine plans to drill deeper at Eskay Creek

A diamond drill with greater depth capacity is being moved into the Eskay Creek project of Calpine Resources (VSE) and Consolidated Stikine Silver (VSE) 60 air miles north of Stewart, B.C. A satellite communications system is also being installed on the property.

Calpine (the operator) recently announced results from a 2,548 ft drill program which included a 96.5 ft intercept grading 0.73 oz gold and 1.1 oz silver (N.M., Nov 7/88). While the grade isn’t too unusual for northern British Columbia, the length of the intercept is another story. Indeed, if the company manages to duplicate similar widths along strike and down dip this could be one of the larger discoveries here in many years. Also, it would help dispel the myth that B.C. gold deposits are generally narrow and small tonnage.

Prime Explorations, a subsidiary of Prime Capital, is providing management services to Calpine for the project. According to Chet Idziszek, the former’s president, they want to expand their data base by drilling off the complete zone. Some of the existing holes will be extended (many of which bottomed in ore) and drilling is also planned under the holes, in between, and along strike.

“We don’t know the shape of this thing,” he concedes, adding that its very wide and they have “hit the upper contact of it but not the lower contact.” He describes the discovery as “multiple zones of precious metals mineralization” some of which are silver rich and others gold rich. The overburden is very shallow and Idziszek contends it’s “an excellent site for an open pit deposit.”

Mineralization occurs over a distance of several miles and past exploration has involved shallow drilling and surface trenching. “But nobody really completed a program that was really systematic,” he emphasizes. Antimony, and realgar (good marker minerals for gold) have all been picked up, none of which were recorded in previous drill logs. Based on previous work, the zone appears to be dipping steeply to the north; and if that is the case hole No 88-6 (96.5 ft of 0.73 oz gold) could be close to true width, he suggests.

The mineralization, which is volcanogenic in origin, appears to have filled paleo hollows or depressions when it was first laid down; and he points out that some of the largest gold deposits in the world have the same type of minerals present “We expect to get good widths and good grades in the drill program,” he says.