Regional Deposits
The Red Mountain gold property owned by IDM Mining is the most important prospect in the immediate area. It is now in the process of obtaining final approval from federal and provincial authorities, with a production decision anticipated late in 2018 or early 2019.
Discovered in 1989, the Red Mountain property was explored extensively until 1996 by Lac Minerals Ltd. and Royal Oak Mines Inc., with 466 diamond drill holes and over 2,000 metres of underground development completed, along with extensive engineering and environmental baseline work. Additional studies were completed over the past 12 years by Seabridge, North American Metals Corp. and Banks Island Gold Ltd.
Red Mountain is a 14-square-kilometre hydrothermal system within the Stikine terrain. Gold mineralization is associated with and partially hosted within an early to mid-Jurassic multiphase intrusive complex, with associated volcanic and volcaniclastic rocks and sediments. Many gold mineralized zones occur on the property, including four mineralized zones with established resource estimates. Three of the four mineralized zones have been folded and are separated by dip-slip fault zones: the Marc, AV and JW zones. These mineralized zones are moderate to steeply dipping, roughly tabular and vary in widths from one to 40 metres, averaging about 15 metres in thickness. Gold and silver tellurides, and free milling mineralization are associated with stockworks, dissemination and patches of coarse-grained pyrite. Alteration facies includes strong quartz-sericite alteration.
Throughout the property, multiple high-grade areas have been identified through surface sampling and local drilling by previous explorers. Of particular significance, since the vast majority of exploration work was completed on the property during 1996, and prior glacial retreat surrounding known mineralized areas has been very extensive, with up to a kilometre at the south end of the property. Glacial retreat over the past couple of decades has resulted in discoveries of additional mineralized zones at Seabridge’s KSM project and Pretivm’s Valley of the Kings deposit.
IDM Mining purchased the Red Mountain property from Seabridge Gold in 2014 and is steadily advancing the project aiming for production in 2020. It is located in northwestern British Columbia, 15 kilometres northeast of the town of Stewart, adjoining the Gold Mountain property to the northwest.