Solomon eyes Metla property

Subject to due diligence and regulatory approvals, Solomon Resources (SRB-V) has agreed to option the Metla polymetallic project, 150 km west of Dease Lake in northwestern British Columbia.

The acquisition gives the Vancouver-based junior a renewed opportunity to explore the prolific Stikina Terrane, which hosts some of the most significant mines and mineral deposits in the province. The company’s principals, Lawrence Nagy and Ronald Netolitkzy, have extensive experience in the region, notably at the Snip (gold) and Eskay Creek (gold-silver) mines in the Iskut River camp.

The Metla property has an exploration history dating back to 1957, when crews working for Cominco found a mineral occurrence at the edge of an ice field. A sample taken from this showing assayed 0.32 oz. gold and 1.4 oz. silver per ton, plus 0.1% copper, 1% zinc and 0.2% lead.

Cominco crews returned to the site in 1988, after the retreating ice revealed an extensive area of polymetallic sulphide mineralization. The ground was then staked.

Cominco’s exploration efforts over the next few seasons returned some high-grade gold assays, mostly from glacial float boulders. Two styles of mineralization were identified (in both boulders and outcrop) in six areas along a 600-metre-wide corridor that extended 1,200 metres west from the glacier. The mineralizing events evident on the property are described as:

— an early period of syngenetic, lead-zinc-copper-silver-gold mineralization hosted by Stuhini group metasediments, or possibly of the Stikine assemblage, and indicative of massive sulphide mineralization similar to that of the Tulsequah Chief mine; and

— a later period of hydrothermal breccia-related mineralization similar to the Thorn prospect, which is also polymetallic and locally gold-enriched.

The Tulsequah Chief zinc-copper-gold-silver mine is 70 km from the Metla property, whereas the Thorn prospect is 20 km distant.

Solomon can acquire the Metla property through cash and share payments to the vendors and by spending at least $1.1 million on exploration.

The property is accessible by air from Dease Lake or Atlin. The Golden Bear mine site is 25 km to the southeast.