Silver Coin Resource Bigger, Better

Vancouver — An updated resource estimate at the Silver Coin property near Stewart, B.C., has significantly boosted contained gold and upgraded the classification of resources for project partners Pinnacle Mines (PNL-V, PNMLF-O), Mountain Boy Minerals (MTB-V, MBYMF-O) and Tenajon Resources (TJS-V, TJRUF-O).

Last year’s estimate of a half-million inferred ounces of contained gold has almost been tripled in the new resource of 9.7 million measured and indicated tonnes grading 1.4 grams gold per tonne and 11 grams silver (about 423,000 contained ounces gold) plus 16 million inferred tonnes averaging 1.8 grams gold and 5.4 grams silver (948,000 contained ounces gold).

A higher-grade core of 8.25 million tonnes grading 3.8 grams gold and 14.9 grams silver was also identified in the study and contains over 1 million oz. gold.

The resource tally used a 0.75-gram gold-equivalent cutoff and is based on 182 core holes drilled from surface in 2005 and 2006 plus 417 historical holes, 288 of which were drilled from underground. Resource drilling has covered about 700 metres of strike on the mineralized zone, which has been traced for about 2.5 km and is open to the south, east and north.

About 74% of the measured and indicated resource and 64% of the inferred tonnage is contained on the Kansas claim held by Tenajon with Pinnacle and Mountain Boy earning a 70% interest. The remainder is primarily hosted on the Big Missouri claim held 51% by Pinnacle and 49% by Mountain Boy.

Mineralization on the project is primarily associated with a zone of faulting and shearing within an andesitic suite of rocks similar to the nearby Silbak-Premier mine about 5 km south.

A number of mineralized zones have been identified in the project area. In the Main Breccia zone, which exhibits extensive sericite-pyrite-quartz alteration, mineralization is associated with quartz stockworks, breccia and silica flooding; gold occurs with disseminated pyrite, sphalerite, galena and chalcopyrite. A later stage of mineralization consists of semi-massive sulphide pods containing significant base metals.