The 10,190 ha Skoonka Creek property is situated near the northern end of the Spences Bridge Gold Belt (SBGB), a series of Cretaceous subaerial volcanic rocks with the potential to host epithermal-style mineralization. The property is a three hour drive by car from Vancouver, approximately 15 km from the Trans Canada Highway and the CPR Railway Line and 12 km northeast of Lytton, BC. The property is explored as part of a joint venture agreement with Almaden Minerals Ltd. Exploraiton work has been completed over the last several years and a number of epithermal gold prospects and showings have been discovered. Strongbow is the project operator.
Surface work completed to date consists of regional and detailed soil geochemical surveys, mapping, and airborne and ground geophysics, which led to the identification of six showings: JJ, Discovery, Deadwood, Ember, Backburn and Zebra. The Discovery, Deadwood, Ember, and Backburn showings define the Deadwood-Backburn trend (the "DBT"), a 3,000 m long east-west trending structural corridor defined by weakly to strongly clay and silica altered volcanic rocks and coincident gold in soil geochemical anomalies. Exploration drilling has been conducted over four phases, with earlier efforts testing of the JJ and Discovery showings. The latest drill program was completed on October 6, 2007 and comprised thirteen drill holes totaling 3,144m, testing the Deadwood (6 holes), Backburn (4 holes), Ember (2 holes) and JJ (1 hole) showings. Exploration of the Zebra target has failed to define a satisfactory drill target.
Styles of mineralization identified within the property are represented by (1) multi-stage massive veins with associated breccia zones and intense proximal silica to distal argillic alteration (JJ, Ember, and Discovery) and (2) narrow stockwork veinlets with moderate, albeit pervasive silica and minor clay alteration (Deadwood and Backburn). Mineralization is associated with early east-west, moderately to steeply-dipping normal faults. In general, the gold showings appear to occur between 100 and 300m below a formational contact within the Spences Bridge Group, which has been postulated to be a paleosurface during hydrothermal activity and epithermal mineralization.
JJ Prospect
The JJ Prospect has been traced over a strike length of 750 m and to a depth of 140m down dip. Gold grades are highest where well developed epithermal quartz veins are located within a more extensive zone of moderately to strongly altered andesitic volcanic rocks. A total of 24 drill holes, including a single hole in 2007, have tested the prospect to date, with the best grades of 20.2 g/t gold over 12.8 m and 28.6 g/t gold over 3.31 m returned from holes SC-008 and SC-007, respectively. Lower grade gold mineralization (generally < 1g/t gold) over locally significant widths (up to 27 m) has been encountered in all drill holes completed to date and mineralization remains open along strike and to depth. Mineralogical, textural and geochemical evidence indicates that mineralization encountered to date represents the upper portions of a shallowly eroded low sulphidation epithermal system, with good potential to discover more consistent and higher gold grades at greater depths.
Discovery Showing
The Discovery showing is located approximately 3,500 metres northeast of the JJ prospect, at the northern edge the DBT. Previous work had identified a low grade quartz breccia vein returning a weighted average gold value of 0.38 g/t over a width of 4.2 m. Strongbow has conducted detailed soil geochemical and ground geophysical surveys of the area and in the spring of 2006 completed three drill holes (490 m) to test beneath the surface showing. The three drill holes were completed from two set-ups located 50 metres apart with each hole intersecting alteration and quartz breccia zones displaying epithermal 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, respectively.
Deadwood Showing
The Deadwood target area is located at the western end of the DBT and 800m to the west-southwest of Discovery. Gold mineralization at Deadwood has been identified within silicified volcanic rocks over a 250 m strike length and remains open to the east and west. Detailed soil and rock chip geochemical surveys have identified at least two, and possibly three, sub parallel target zones with widths of 10 to 40 m. Bedrock exposure in the area is very poor, however 193 bedrock grab and chip samples have returned from background values up to 14 g/t Au with 39 samples returning in excess of 1 g/t Au. Bedrock chip sampling near some of the better grab samples has returned 2.6 g/t Au over 13.0 m, 1.1 g/t Au over 7.0 m and 0.65 g/t Au over 7.0 m. The best results from soil trenching returned 614.75 ppb Au over 21m, including 891.93 ppb Au over 13m. Drilling at the Deadwood showing in 2007 identified moderate to strong zones of silicification and clay alteration, with mineralized intervals ranging from 0.82 m to 16.26 m in width, with grades ranging from 0.42 g/t Au to 6.43 g/t Au. Better mineralization was typically located at shallow depths, reflecting the mineralized zones mapped at surface. Tracing and defining the mineralized intervals at Deadwood is complicated by a series of post mineralization feldspar porphyry dykes and faults.
Ember and Backburn Showings
The Ember and Backburn targets are located between 500 m and 1,200m east of Deadwood and comprise the central and eastern part of the DBT, respectively. Both areas contain coincident soil and bedrock geochemical anomalies associated with strongly silica and clay altered volcanic rocks. Mechanized trenching at Ember extended the showing to an east-west strike of 240m and a width of 65m. Drilling completed in 2007 tested underneath the main zone of the showing and encountered similar styles of massive to locally brecciated and stockwork veins down to a depth of 45m, which returned 0.18 g/t gold over 9.80m. Surface work at the Backburn showing mainly comprised soil trenching, prospecting, and hand trenching and has defined it to a strike of 800m in a northwest-southeast direction. Backburn drilling targeted beneath the best soil anomalies (313.24 ppb Au over 20m) and two occurrences of quartz stockwork veins and silica-carbonate alteration (1.52 g/t Au over 10m). Only a few narrow zones representing weakly to moderately silica, carbonate, and/or chlorite alteration were intersected at 0.78 g/t Au over 10m.
Reconnaissance prospecting has identified six areas outside of the main gold showings that returned gold values between 0.90 g/t to 3.32 g/t. The joint venture partners are currently reviewing all exploration data for the property prior to formalizing exploration plans for 2008.
Strongbow's ownership of the Skoonka Joint Venture is approximately 66%.
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