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Jointly funded budget approved for Lik zinc project

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Global Mining Review,


Solitario Zinc Corp. has announced that the company – through its 100% owned subsidiary Zazu Metals (50% Lik interest) and Teck American Incorporated (50% Lik interest), a wholly owned subsidiary of Teck Resources Limited, Canada's largest diversified resource company – have approved a jointly funded budget for a new work programme on the Lik zinc project in Alaska.

This is the first time that project work has been jointly funded, as previously, Zazu Metals, acquired by Solitario in July 2017, had sole funded the project as part of an option earn-in agreement. Solitario believes this is a positive step for future exploration and development activities for the Lik project.

Potentially amenable to opencast mining, the Lik project hosts an indicated resource of approximately 17.3 million t grading 8.0% zinc, 2.7% lead and 51 g/t silver and an additional 2.9 million t of inferred resource at 8.6% zinc, 2.6% lead and 37 g/t silver. The project is situated approximately 14 miles northwest of Teck's operating Red Dog mine, one of the world's largest and lowest cost zinc mines.

To leverage Teck's 30 years of successful exploration and operational experience in the world-class Red Dog mining district, Solitario and Teck agreed that Teck will act as project operator for this programme. The proposed work programme, which will begin once appropriate permits are obtained, will consist of surface geologic, geophysical and environmental work, as well as Lik camp rehabilitation. Specific activities include:

  • Geologic mapping of the property block to better understand the stratigraphy and structure of the property to aid in the development of drill targets.
  • The geophysical programme will consist of a new gravity survey over a substantial part of the 6075 acre Lik property block. Other geophysical work consists of compilation and merging of past induced polarisation geophysical surveys. Teck has had success in the greater Red Dog zinc district using geophysical tools to detect moderately to deeply buried zinc deposits.
  • Relogging of Lik core will also be undertaken to compare and contrast the Lik deposit to deposits in other parts of the prolific Red Dog Zinc District.
  • Camp rehabilitation to allow for future use of the established infrastructure.
  • Assessment of previous environmental work to determine what additional studies are required as the project advances.

Chris Herald, President and CEO of Solitario, commented: "We clearly see project benefits in utilising Teck's long-term experience in the Red Dog zinc district and are excited about working with Teck to advance the Lik project at a time of encouraging zinc and lead prices and supply-demand fundamentals. The 2018 work programme is designed to be the first-step in identifying new drilling targets and assessing the path forward for project development."

Read the article online at: https://www.globalminingreview.com/exploration-development/04042018/jointly-funded-budget-approved-for-lik-zinc-project/

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