VANCOUVER, BC, May 15, 2024 /CNW/ - Rokmaster Resources Corp. (TSXV:RKR) (OTCQB:RKMSF) (FSE: 1RR1) ("Rokmaster" or "RKR") and Kootenay Resources Inc. (TSXV:KTRI) ("Kootenay Resources" or "KTR") are pleased to announce the finalization of a letter of intent ("LOI") between the Companies for the road accessible Fox-Coconut and Mystery Properties, which are both located south of Highway 16 between Prince George and Smithers in west-central British Columbia (the "Nechako Project") (Figure 1).
The Nechako Basin region in central British Columbia is host to several significant past producers and current development projects. The Fox-Coconut Property is south of Centerra Gold's Endako molybdenum porphyry deposit which was in production for nearly 50 years and has a current measured and indicated mineral resource ("M&I") of 169.3 Mt at 0.04% Mo1. The Equity Silver Mine was another past producer in the region which produced 71 Moz silver, 0.51 Moz gold, and 185 million lbs copper from 33.8 Mt mined between 1981 and 19942. The Blackwater Mine, located south of the Fox-Coconut Property, is currently being constructed by Artemis Gold to begin production on an M&I mineral resource of 11.7 Moz gold and 122.4 Moz of silver later this year3.
The Mystery Property is located northeast of Imperial Metal's Huckleberry Mine which produced over 1.0 billion lbs copper and associated molybdenum, silver, and gold from the 153 Mt mined between 1997 and 20164. Surrounding to the Huckleberry Mine, Surge Copper Corp. is advancing the Berg deposit (M&I 1,009 Mt containing 5.1 billion lbs of copper) and the Ox and Seel deposits (combined M&I 438.6 Mt containing 1.7 billion lbs of copper)5. Other explorers in the Mystery Property area include Vizsla Copper Corp., Equity Metals Corp., and Quartz Mountain Resources.
The 4,988 hectare Fox-Coconut Property (Figure 2) is underlain by Eocene Ootsa Lake volcanic rocks in the west where a topographic high exposes fractured and silicified rhyolite volcanics hosting quartz veins and breccias. The Fox Showing area was hand-trenched and channel sampled in 2014 with results up to 45.3 g/t Au and 7,342 g/t Ag over 1.0 m6 (Figure 3). The eastern portion of the Property is characterized as a complex assemblage of volcanic and sedimentary rocks which hosts several structurally controlled vein/dyke corridors hosting high-grade gold and silver and coincident base metals. The Coconut Showing area features a broad zone of propylitic alteration with more focused zones of quartz-barite+/-tourmaline, chlorite, magnetite related to northwest trending structures.
Riocanex was the first documented operator on the Fox-Coconut Property, collecting 2,369 soil samples west of Island Lake in 1983 to test a lake bottom sediment sample anomalous in Ag, Cu, Pb. Since 2011, the Property has been steadily explored by the team at Kootenay Resources, including the Kennedy family, resulting in the collection of 762 soil samples and 985 rock samples. The Fox Showing and immediate area recently received approval for a five year exploration permit allowing for up to 30 diamond drill sites and 30 trenches with associated exploration trails.
The 12,193 hectare Mystery Property is situated over the Shelford Hills, a circular uplifted volcanic block exposing Cretaceous Kasalka Group volcanic rocks intruded by a stock of porphyritic monzonite belonging to the Late Cretaceous Bulkley Plutonic Suite (Figure 4). The Bulkley Plutonic Suite hosts the calc-alkalic porphyry Cu-Mo mineralization at the nearby Huckleberry, Ox, and Seel deposits7.
Historic soil geochemical anomalies for copper, lead, zinc, silver associated with a coincident magnetic high were returned from work completed by previous operators such as Kennco Exploration (1970), BP-Selco (1980's), Canamax (1983), and Noranda Exploration (late 1980's). More recent airborne geophysical surveys were completed by Quartz Mountain Resources in 2012 and Copper Mountain Mining in 2017, but those did not control a key group of claims covering the central area hosting anomalous geochemistry at the time. In 2022, Kootenay Resources conducted a prospecting program collecting 89 rock samples to successfully verify historic results and also identified a brand new showing of breccia-hosted sulphide mineralization associated with a large pyrite±tourmaline alteration zone.
Field work planned to advance the Nechako Project in 2024 includes detailed ...