Starr Peak Mining Ltd. [TSXV-STE; OTCQX-STRPF] reported that the company has identified several untested geochemical soil anomalies on its NewMétal property located in the Abitibi Greenstone Belt of Québec near the town of Normétal.
This program, covering some of the priority areas, was completed last year before winter. An analysis from this survey has returned base and precious metal anomalies over new areas, as well as strengthening knowledge on historical zones.
Interpreted results from this survey highlighted several geochemically anomalous areas, some of which are located along VTEM (Versatile Time Domain Electromagnetic) geophysical anomalies, and therefore have generated priority drill targets for the company. A total of 12 areas of interest have been identified:
Three areas are characterized by a Volcanogenic Massive Sulphide (VMS) base metal signature, enriched in Zn, Cd, Pb, In, with a minor enrichment in As, Bi, Sb.
Five areas are characterized by precious metal mineralization associated with VMS systems, enriched in Ag, Pb with minor enrichment in Cu, Au, and depletion in Fe. Four areas characterized by anomalous gold content.
The soil survey covered three priority areas over the NewMétal property which include: the mine horizon to the West of Normetmar which was tested for continuation of the recently discovered Eastern VMS anomaly by Amex Exploration that appears to extend into the western part of the NewMétal property.
The surroundings of the VMS horizon intersected by hole STE-22-98 and corresponding VTEM geophysical anomalies. The surroundings of hole STE-22-112 which returned anomalous gold results hosted into the granodiorite Pluton de Normétal, located in the northeast part of the property.
Johnathan More, Chairman and CEO, commented, “We are gearing up for an active 2024 exploration program. Our neighbor, Amex, has been active and proving up a gold deposit of importance and are drilling towards us on trends and strike for base metals commodities. With our promising areas, including the new Normetmar deep discovery, we are looking forward to the next drilling phase to come.”
The 2022 Normetmar deep VMS discovery and the new geophysical BHEM deep plate along the long deeper hole will be a focus for next drilling phase targets. This is in accordance with a potential for continued mineralization at depth when compared to the old historical Normétal mine, which was mined down to 2,400 metres. The next drilling campaign will also include testing geochemically anomalous areas, some of which overlap with priority VTEM geophysical anomalies.
The company also plans to complete a two-week field program prior to executing the drilling phase, with the purpose of validating anomalous areas to refine drilling targets.
The soil samples were sent to ALS Canada for processing and Ionic LeachTM analysis (ME-MS23). In addition, all soil samples were separately tested for paste pH analysis (OA-ELE07). The Ionic Leach method aims to detect mineralization through deep overburden coverage. Geochemical anomalies sourced from mineralization often present sharp and high-amplitude signals, which are ideal for drill targeting. The analysis and interpretation of the soil geochemical data was provided by Vision Geochemistry Ltd.
