Silver Range sold a 100% interest in the Michelle property to Silver47 Exploration Corp. (see news releases dated Feb. 23, 2021 and Dec. 7, 2021) for a 19.9% share interest, a 1% net smelter return royalty and certain milestone payments.
The Michelle Project covers carbonate-hosted, zinc-lead-silver-gallium mineralization, with district-scale potential.
The property encompasses 782 mineral claims (158 km2) that adjoin the Dempster Highway via a proposed access corridor. It is located approximately 130 km north-northeast of Dawson City in central Yukon and 630 km north of the deep-water port at Skagway, Alaska.
The project lies within a belt of Proterozoic and Paleozoic platformal carbonate rocks that stretches through northern BC, western NWT, Yukon and Alaska. Significant zinc±lead±silver deposits within this belt include Pine Point, Gayna River, Prairie Creek, Goz and Blende. The Michelle Project covers widespread, deeply weathered Mississippi Valley Type (MVT) zinc-lead-silver mineralization. This mineralization is particularly enriched in silver, gallium and indium, which suggests a higher temperature of formation than is common in most MVT deposits.
Work to date has identified 23 zinc-rich, mineralized zones within a 14 km by 9 km area, along with several isolated float occurrences. Slopes on the property are comprised of blocky talus and outcrop is sparse. As a result, many of the zones are marked by weak gossans located on or near ridge crests, where the softer mineralized rocks are least likely to be covered by harder unmineralized talus. Mineralization generally consists of cavity-, fracture- and/or breccia-hosted, secondary oxide minerals, such as limonite, smithsonite, and residual galena with cerussite-anglesite envelopes. In the northwest part of the property, the Boxer Showing covers a broad area of MVT carbonate breccias, hosting interstitial sphalerite, smithsonite and galena. Relatively unoxidized sulphide mineralization (consisting of nearly massive sphalerite, galena and pyrite) has been observed in three locations (Dynasty, Silver Matt and Husky showings). None of the zones have been fully delineated, but all appear to be controlled by both structure and stratigraphy.
Zinc mineralization is widespread across the property and is a significant component in all mineralized zones. Surface rock sampling on the property has yielded peak values of 48.57% zinc, 82.78% lead, 4180 g/t silver and 1120 ppm gallium. Historical diamond drilling, which concentrated on two occurrences, returned highlights of 16.75% zinc, 8.86% lead and 310 g/t silver over 18.29 m at the Gully Zone, and 0.55% zinc, 15.18% lead and 2134 g/t silver over 2.96 m at the Peak Zone. Work programs continue to increase the size and grade of the zinc footprint. Silver Range believes that the numerous high-grade zinc occurrences provide a vector to a much larger target.
