Stealth Minerals moves forward at Toodoggone

Vancouver — Stealth Minerals (SML-V) has been busy exploring its land position in the Toodoggone region of North Central British Columbia.

The junior reports that it has made three new discoveries in the Toodoggone region this year, the BeeGee, the August and Sickle Creek. The BC Ministry of Mines has recognized Sickle Creek as a new discovery and has issued it a Minfile Number, the first such in about 10 years.

As a result of its recent prospecting success, Stealth has staked a large block of claims along the eastern margin of the Toodoggone Basin in an area that has seen only cursory exploration. Some assessment reports from this area note silver values in excess of 100 grams per tonne.

In late August, the junior discovered high-grade gold and silver mineralization in outcrop at Sickle Creek. Prospecting along strike to the north outlined a gold and silver bearing epithermal system that is hosted by felsic volcanic flows and tuff. Stealth reports that this epithermal system stretches for over 5 km in strike length and is believed to be part of a 16 km-long alteration and structural corridor.

This structural corridor hosts at least eight discreet mineralized systems. From south to north these have been dubbed NWB, Nub Mountain, Sickle Creek, Griz Bowl, Quartz Basin, North Ridge, Alunite Ridge and the Kevin prospect.

The Geological Survey of Canada recently completed a multi-array airborne geophysical survey in the area between Nub Mountain and Sickle Creek in the southern part of the corridor. Results from this survey are still pending.

The mineralized target area is underlain by at thick sequence of felsic flows and pyroclastic rocks including flow banded rhyolite, vesicular dacite and massive felsic flows with interflow breccias and coarse pyroclastic rocks. This volcanic cycle is discontinuously capped by a hot spring and sinter sedimentary unit consisting of laminated black muddy sediments and intercalated clay rich sediments and opalescent silica layers. Stealth reports that both the muddy sediments and sinter contain gold and silver values.

The epithermal system in the northern portion of the corridor, from Sickle Creek to the Kevin prospect, is exposed continuously for a strike length of 5,300 metres. Gold and silver values occur in hot spring style mudstones, silica pools, quartz breccias, quartz-carbonate veins, quartz stock work and high-sulphide veins.

Stealth took about 160 rock samples from outcrop as well as chip samples and float samples. The gold values ranged from 0.10 gram to 100.2 grams. Silver values range from 2 grams to 2,420 grams. Highlights of the sampling include:

• Outcrop grab sample from Sickle Creek: 100.2 gram gold and 1,185 grams silver.
• Chip sample from Sickle Creek: 9.5 grams gold and 407 grams silver over 3.0 metres.
• Outcrop grab sample from Griz Bowl: 7.1 grams gold and 150 grams silver.
• Outcrop grab sample from Quartz Basin: 9.2 grams gold and 490 grams silver.
• Chip sample from 570 Vein: 4.1 grams gold and 46 grams silver over 4.0 metres.
• Outcrop grab sample from 570 Vein: 18 grams gold and 860 grams silver.
• Float sample from Alunite Ridge: 6.2 grams gold and 1,080 grams silver.
• Outcrop grab sample from North Ridge: 25.9 grams gold and 840 grams silver.
• Outcrop grab sample from Kevin: 3.4 grams gold and 5 grams silver.

Stealth has set its preliminary exploration budget for next year at $6.0 million. Of that $4.0 million is allocated to explore the area from Sickle Creek to the Kevin prospect. Exploration next year will consist of detailed mapping, trenching, sampling and diamond drilling.

Meanwhile, at the company’s Mess prospect, situated about 7 km east of Northgate Exploration’s (NGX-T), Stealth took a total of 85 rock samples from float and outcrop. Assays returned values ranging from 0.01 gram gold to 37.54 grams gold and from 0.01 gram silver to 8,520 grams silver. The samples were sourced from a large area measuring about 1.5 km north-south and 500 metres east-west.

The Mess prospect was originally discovered in 1980 when soil sampling followed by limited trenching identified vein systems where grab samples returned up to 800 grams silver and 3.8 grams gold from silt samples. Since that time, soil geochemistry, trenching and limited diamond drilling (seven holes from two drill pads) were carried out on the prospect by previous operators.

About 100 metres northwest of the old Inco drill site, in an area Stealth has dubbed South Trench, grab samples returned values of 2.04 grams gold and 154.0 grams silver. To the north, sampling identified three areas measuring 50 to 80 metres in width and 200 to 450 metres in length which host anomalous gold and silver values in float as well as in outcrop. Sampling results include 1.25 grams gold, 92.0 grams silver, 0.10 gram gold, 403.0 grams silver and 37.54 grams gold, 100.6 grams silver. Stealth believes these areas are new discoveries.

The North Trench area is situated about 1.5 km north of the South Trench prospect. The area hosts intermediate volcanic rocks which are cut by an orange coloured, feldspar porphyry dyke. Near the dyke, structurally controlled zones of quartz-illite, chlorite-sericite, and carbonate alteration occur and contain variable concentrations of copper, lead, zinc with significant gold and silver values. Samples taken by Stealth include:

• A chip sample over 1.5 metres averaged 0.60 grams gold, 3,500 grams silver, 0.24% copper, 12.2 % lead and 1.1% zinc.
• Another chip sample taken over 1.5 metres averaged 7.3 grams gold, 5,400 grams silver, 0.23% copper, 14.3% lead and 1.7% zinc.
• A grab sample averaged 7.0 grams gold, 5,040 grams silver, 0.19% copper, 20.9% lead and 0.55% zinc.
• Another grab sample returned 0.30 gram gold, 8,520 grams silver, 0.75% copper, 5.26% lead and 0.55% zinc.

The highest value grab sample assayed 37.54 grams gold and 100.6 grams silver with trace base metals. It was taken in an area about mid-point between the South and North Trenches, which are situated about 1,500 metres apart.

Stealth believes that the Mess prospect could host large, high-grade epithermal polymetallic gold-silver deposit. Detailed prospecting, mapping, sampling, excavator trenching and diamond drilling are planned for this area in 2004.