Joint Ventured with Strongbow Explorations Ltd.

overview | geology | target zones | maps | past work

 

A 3,144 m drilling program was completed at the Skoonka Creek gold property in October 2007. Drilling tested the Deadwood (6 holes), Backburn (4 holes), Ember (2 holes) and JJ (1 hole) showings. [read more +]

The Skoonka Creek prospect is 100% owned by Almaden and was acquired entirely by staking. Initial staking of 43 claim-units (1,075 hectares) was undertaken in late 2003 to cover strongly anomalous gold stream geochemistry and mineral occurrences located during earlier follow-up of a Government regional gold-in-silt anomaly.

The property was substantially expanded to 140 claim-units (3,500 hectares) during November 2004, and more recently (January 2005) a closely adjacent SAMS (Sam South) block comprising 300 BCGS grid cells (~6,190 hectares) has been acquired via the new BC Mineral Titles Online system.

The Skoonka Creek property, located in southern British Columbia, is readily accessible by road, 25 kilometres northeast from the village of Lytton on the Trans-Canada Highway.

Ed Balon and Jan Tindle staking claims at Skoonka

 

low sulphidation epithermal gold

The Skoonka Creek property covers a package of subaerial volcanic rocks transected by two major north trending fault structures, which are believed to host a shallowly eroded low sulphidated epithermal quartz vein system. Altered tuffaceous volcanic rocks and pieces of quartz float exhibiting epithermal textures have been found at surface coincident with geochemistry and geophysical anomalies.

 

Initial work by Almaden identified two gold bearing epithermal vein showings and a number of untested gold in soil anomalies. The JJ and Discovery showings were discovered three kilometers apart, on a network of logging roads within the northern part of the property. Subsequent work by Strongbow identified the Backburn, Ember and Zebra targets located within a larger area known as the Discovery-Backburn trend in the northwestern part of the property.

Discovery Prospect
Located 3,500m northeast of the JJ prospect, the DD showing is at the northern end of a broad multi-element soil geochemical anomaly that extends of 1,500m by 2,000m.

3 drill holes in the 2006 program were completed from two set-ups located 50 metres apart with each hole intersecting alteration and quartz zones displaying vein textures typical of low sulphidation epithermal systems. Gold grades throughout these zones are very similar to the surface showing, with the three holes intersecting 11.33 m grading 0.36 g/t gold, 3.49 m grading 0.14 g/t gold, and 5.53 m grading 0.21 g/t gold.

JJ Prospect
The 29 exploration drill holes completed in 2005 and 2006 on the JJ prospect have traced clay alteration and quartz veining over a 700m strike length and to a depth of 250m down dip from surface. Highlights from a 2005 drill program included a section of 20.2 g/t gold over 12.8 m and 26.8 g/t gold over 3.31 m. Lower grade gold mineralization (generally < 1g/t gold) over widths up to 27 m has been encountered in all completed drill holes, showing the continuity of the structure.

Mineralogical, textural and geochemical evidence indicate that mineralization on the prospect represents the upper portions of a shallowly eroded low sulphidation epithermal system, with good potential to encounter more consistent and higher gold grades at greater depths. Petrograph investigations in 2006 confirmed this potential.

 

Backburn

2006 soil geochemistry extended the Blackburn anomaly to 1,100m by 300m. Rock samples of alterated tuffaceous volcanic rock has returned gold values from 1.6g/t to 3.5g/t and quartz float has been identified over a 70m strike length.

Deadwood

Located at the western end of the Discovery-Backburn trend, the Deadwood showing is a 3,000m long structural corrider defined by a significant gold soil anomaly. A detailed ground magnetic survey cindicates that the mineralization is associated with an east-west trending magnetic low. This magnetic feature has a minimum strike length of 330 m and remains open to the east. Mineralisation consists of narrow (typically <20 cm), closely spaced quartz veins within andesitic volcanic rocks.

In 2007 a total of 105 rock grab and chip samples have been collected over a 200 m strike length with 23 samples returning in excess of 1 g/t gold, including three best samples grading 11.1 g/t gold, 13.2 g/t gold, and 13.8 g/t gold. Results from detailed soil sampling are also highly encouraging, with seven samples returning in excess of 1,000 ppb gold (1 g/t gold), including three consecutive soil samples that returned 2,560 ppb gold, 4,795 ppb gold and 6,193 ppb gold, representing the highest gold in soil anomaly within the property, where background is generally considered to be < 10 ppb gold. These three highly anomalous soil samples were collected along a north-south trending survey line located ten metres up slope from, and to the west of, the most westerly rock samples collected to date.

The Deadwood showing represents a high priority exploration target and will be drill tested during the 2007 exploration program.

 

January 2007: Strongbow announces the results of a 2,000m drill program consisting of 6 drill holes in the JJ Prospect. Gold values ranged from 0.3g/t gold to 6.1g/t over width ranging from 1.56m to 20.27m. The two final holes encountered a 20-25cm well-developed quartz vein located about 120m below surface. Highlight holes include SC-031 and SC-032 (collared at the same set up) which returned 16.3g/t gold over 0.23m and 17.0g/t gold over 0.5m respectively at depths of 120m and 130m. This vein was encountered along the strike zone 175m to the west of the 2005 highlight drill hole SC-008, which retuned 20.2g/t gold over 12.8m. The vertical extension of the vein is still open, and the geology encountered along the length of the drill holes suggests that the higher grade epithermal veins could exist at depths.

 

December 2006: A total of 105 rock grab and chip samples collected at the Deadwood showing as part of Strongbow's 2006 exploration program with 23 samples returning in excess of 1 g/t gold, including three best samples grading 11.1 g/t gold, 13.2 g/t gold, and 13.8 g/t gold. Results from detailed soil sampling are also highly encouraging, with seven samples returning in excess of 1,000 ppb gold (1 g/t gold), including three consecutive soil samples that returned 2,560 ppb gold, 4,795 ppb gold and 6,193 ppb gold, representing the highest gold in soil anomaly within the property, where background is generally considered to be < 10 ppb gold. These three highly anomalous soil samples were collected along a north-south trending survey line located ten metres up slope from, and to the west of, the most westerly rock samples collected to date.

September 2006: Over 3500 soil samples and 1000 rock samples have been collected since May 2006. Bedrock mapping of the property has also been completed. Using a new stratigraphy in conjunction with the soil and rock sampling and geophysical data, Strongbow has identified has identified several new target zones.

May 2006: Strongbow has completed a drill program of 12 holes totalling 2,545 metres. Holes intersected with broad zones of altered tuffaceous units. Holes SC-015 & SC-016 intersected quartz veining and clay alteration. Highlight results for the JJ Prospect include:

• SC-012: 6.16m of 2.08 g/t gold including 5.79m of 5.79 g/t gold
• SC-015: 5.98m of 1.84g/t gold including 0.92m of 7.25g/t gold
• SC-016: 8m of 1.2g/t gold including 2.83m of 2.91g/t gold
  [read more +]

March 2006 : Strongbow announces a 2000 metres drill program on the JJ prospect to follow up on the encouraging results returned from October 2005. Ground geophysical surveys are also planned. [more +]

November 2005: The drilling was highlighted by an intersection grading 26.8g/t gold over 3.31m and 20.1g/t gold over 12.8m confirming the presence of high grade gold mineralization on the Skoonka Creek gold property. [more +]

Map taken from Strongbow Exploration’s website

October 2005 : Strongbow commences a diamond drilling program on the JJ showing. Eleven holes are planned for a total of roughly 1,500 meters targeting veins identified in trenches and soil anomalies that are thought to be potentially reflecting additional vein structures. [more +]

September 2005 : Hand dug trenches have been completed over the JJ showing where two parallel quartz veins uncovered by a single trench in 2004 returned an average grade of 22.8 g/t gold over an estimated true width of 2.0 m. The new trenching has exposed the northeast striking JJ mineralized system over a total length of approximately 45 m. Of 29 bulk channel samples collected to date, 28 have returned greater than 100 ppb gold, including 20 samples greater than 1 g/t gold and 10 samples in excess of 12 g/t gold. [more +]

July 2005: Almaden options the Skoonka Creek to Strongbow Exploration Inc. [more +]