Fireweed Drills 100 m of 7.94% Zinc from Surface at Boundary
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NEWS RELEASE
November 5, 2019 TSXV: FWZ
Fireweed Drills 100 m of 7.94% Zinc from Surface at Boundary
including 6.4 m of 42.49% Zinc Within 230 m of 4.14% Zinc
Vancouver, British Columbia: FIREWEED ZINC LTD. (“Fireweed”) (TSXV: FWZ) is pleased to
announce the last results from the 2019 drilling at the Macmillan Pass Project in Yukon, Canada. These
results are from the Boundary Zone located 15 road kilometres west of the Jason Deposit (see Figure 1).
Highlights
• This final 2019 drill hole at the Boundary Zone intersected 4.14% Zinc over a true width of
230 metres with a near surface higher grade section of 7.94% Zinc over a true width of
100 metres and high grade subintervals including 42.49% Zinc over 6.4 metres and local very
high grade sections including > 60% Zinc1 over 0.6 metres. The zone remains open to depth and
along strike.
• Boundary Zone has potential to be mined in a low strip open pit and to be upgraded through low
cost ore sorting technology for processing.
• The addition of Boundary Zone to the project has potential to expand current mineral resources
and improve already robust current PEA economics.
Table 1: Final 2019 drill results from the Boundary Zone
Drill Hole2 From
(meters)
To
(meters)
Interval
(meters)
Estimated True
Width (meters)3 Zinc (%) Lead (%) Silver (g/t)
NB19-002 8.00 330.00 322.00 230 4.14 0.30 9.7
including 8.00 150.30 142.30 100 7.94 0.10 11.1
including 27.80 40.10 12.30 8.7 9.20 0.04 11.5
including 115.81 127.00 11.19 7.9 17.47 0.08 36.0
including 120.64 127.00 6.36 4.5 28.72 0.13 59.9
including 139.35 148.42 9.07 6.4 42.49 0.75 42.1
including 145.65 146.53 0.88 0.6 >601 0.20 61.2
including 289.81 307.70 17.89 undetermined 3.03 1.79 28.86
including 289.81 291.98 2.17 undetermined 6.30 5.00 73.17
CEO Statement
Brandon Macdonald, CEO, state d “These results are a great way to finish the 2019 drilling at Macmillan
Pass. I had previously stated that our first hole NB19 -001 was the best ever drilled at Boundary and now
we have eclipsed that with NB19 -002. This hole is even better and clearly demonstrates zones of very
high grade within a very broad interval which points to the large size and grade potential of Boundary
Zone. These results, along with recent drilling success at Tom North and End Zone , have potential to
meaningfully expand on our current resource. With all the data in from the summer program, we will now
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fully evaluate the results and consider the best path forward to advance the project . Clearly we have some
potential levers to improve economics after our excellent results from the 2018 and 2019 campaigns.”
Boundary Zone Potential
No mineral resource has been estimated for Boundary Zone yet and the zone is not included in the current
mineral resource estimate for the property (described in Fireweed news release dated January 10, 2018).
Boundary Zone has potential to be mined in a n open pit with a low strip ratio and to be upgraded through
low cost, pre-concentration ore sorting processes (see below). Recent drill results at Boundary Zone along
with Tom North Zone and End Zone (see Fireweed news releases dated September 10, 2019, and
November 15 and 29, 2018) represent potential for expansion of the large current mineral resources and
improvement of Macmillan Pass project economics described in the current Preliminary Economic
Assessment (PEA) (see Fireweed news release dated May 23, 2018).
Boundary Zone Background
Historic drilling of 24 holes at Boundary Zone indicates the presence of a large bulk tonnage zone of zinc
(-lead-silver) mineralization potentially suitable for open pit mining. Known mineralization is spread over
an area almost two kilometres long and 200 to 800 metres wide . Mineralization drilled in a central area is
350 metres long and has a true thickness of up to 250 metres with historic drilling grades averaging
2.0 - 2.5% zinc4 that include multiple higher grade intervals closer to surface similar to the hole reported
in this news release (see Figures 2 & 3, Tables 1 & 2 and Fireweed news release dated November 6,
2018). Higher grades near surface are favourable for potential open pit mining economics. The zone has
been drilled up to 285 metres down dip and remains open to depth and along trend for further exploration.
Boundary Zone mineralization consists of sphalerite-siderite -pyrite and minor galena in veins ,
stockworks, disseminations, and as replacement of matrix and clasts within coarse clastic rocks.
The 2019 Boundary drill program was designed to infill a gap in historic drilling (see Figure 2) and obtain
a bulk sample for larger commercial -scale ore sorting and metallurgical test work. Drill hole NB19 -002,
reported in this release, was collared 45 metres from a historic hole to obtain adequate comparable
material for the test work. On October 16, 2019, Fireweed reported results from Boundary Zone drill hole
NB19-001 in which true width s were reported as pending. With results from this news release and
additional interpretation, updated and revised estimated true widths for drill hole NB19 -001 have now
been included in Table 3. Note that NB19-001 and NB19-002 were collared in mineralization, so these
holes did not intersect the entire zone, and the true width of Boundary Zone may be greater than the
intersections reported in this release.
Boundary Zone Ore Sorting Tests
Initial ore sorting test results for Boundary Zone indicate mineralization is potentially amendable to low
cost state-of-the-art X-Ray Fluorescence ( “XRF”) ore sorting technology (see Fireweed news release
dated July 31, 2019). These test results rejected 50 -70% of the waste material (30 -50% mass pull), while
recovering 80-85% of the zinc . In practical terms, these results show potential to upgrade mill feed from
the test feed grade of 2.5% zinc to approximately 5% zinc with recovery of 80 -85% of the zinc at low
cost. Core collected from the two 2019 Boundary holes will be used to carry out commercial -scale ore
sorting tests and metallurgical tests. If the tests confirm the preliminary ore sorting results, the Boundary
Zone has the potential to significantly improve the PEA economics of the Macmillan Pass Project.
2019 Drill Program
The 2019 drill program is complete and with this news release, all 2019 drill results have now been
reported. A total of 16 diamond drill holes were drilled for a total of 2,35 7 metres with the successful
goals of expanding and upgrading known zones of mineralization at Boundary, Tom West and Tom East,
as well as testing new exploration targets such as Tom North . Summary descriptions of drill hole collar
data, field results and observations are provided in Tables 4 and 5.
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Access Road Update
Access to the project site is via Yukon Highway 6 (aka the North Canol Road) and an airstrip on the
property. As described in the PEA study (see Fireweed news release May 23, 2018 and PEA report filed
on www.sedar.com), any future mining operation will require upgrading of the road to accommodate
more traffic. Fireweed is pleased to report that during the past summer the Yukon Department of
Highways and Public Works carried out additional work on the road which included replacement of three
more bridges and various road repairs. Three additional new prefabricated bridges have also been
delivered to the start of the road and are available for installation next year. The continuing active support
of the Yukon government on the Macmillan Pass Project is but one indication of why Yukon is a top 10
mining investment jurisdiction in the world as designated by the Fraser Institute.
Notes on sampling and assaying:
The drill core logging and sampling program was carried out under a rigorous quality assurance / quality
control program using industry best practices. Drill intersections in this release are all HQ3 (split tube)
size core (61.1 mm / 2.4 -inch diameter) with recoveries typically above 85%. After drilling, core was
logged for geology, structure and geotechnical characteristics, marked for sampling, and photographed on
site. The cores for analyses were marked for sampling based on ge ological intervals with individual
samples 1.5 metres or less in length. Drill core from the Boundary Zone was cut lengthwise into quarters
with a core saw; a quarter-core was sent for assays reported in this news release, two quarter core samples
were col lected for ore sorting and metallurgical test work, and the fourth quarter is stored on site for
reference. A total of 5% assay standards or blanks and 5% core duplicates are included in the sample
stream as a quality control measure and reviewed, after analyses a re received. Standards and blanks in
2019 drill results to date have been approved as acceptable. Duplicate data add to the long-term estimates
of precision for assay data on the project and precision for drill results reported i s deemed to be within
acceptable levels. Samples were sent to the Bureau Veritas preparation laboratory in Whitehorse, Yukon,
where the samples were crushed and a 500 g split was pulverized to 85% passing 200 mesh size pulps.
Clean crush material wa s passed through the crusher and clean silica was pulverized between each
sample. The pulps were then sent to the Bureau Veritas laboratory in Vancouver, B.C. and analyzed by
1:1:1 Aqua Regia digestion followed by Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP -ES/ICP-
MS) multi-element analyses (BV Code AQ270). All samples were also analyzed for multiple elements by
lithium borate fusion and X -ray fluorescence analysis (XRF) finish (BV Code LF725). Over -limit Pb
(>25.0%) and Zn (>20.0%) were analyzed by lithium borate fusion with XRF finish (BV Code LF726). A
subset of four high grade Zn (>45%) samples have been re-analysed by titration assay (BV Code GC816)
and all samples over 40% Zn have been re-analysed by lithium borate fusion with XRF finish (BV Code
LF726) to confirm the very high values. Silver is reported in this news release by method AQ270, and
zinc and lead are reported by LF725 or LF726. Bureau Veritas (Vancouver) is an independent,
international ISO/IEC 17025:2005 accredited laboratory.
Qualified Person Statement
Technical information in this news release has been approved by Gilles Dessureau, P.Geo, Vice President
Exploration and a ‘Qualified Person’ as defined under Canadian National Instrument 43-101.
About Fireweed Zinc Ltd. (TSXV : FWZ): Fireweed Zinc is a public mineral exploration company
focused on zinc and managed by a veteran team of mining industry professionals. The Company is
advancing its district-scale 544 km2 Macmillan Pass Project in Yukon, Canada, which is host to the 100%
owned Tom and Jason zinc -lead-silver deposits with current Mineral Resources and a PEA economic
study (see Fireweed news releases dated January 10, 2018, and May 23, 2018, respectively, and reports
filed on www.sedar.com for details) as well as the Boundary Zone, Tom North Zone and End Zone which
have significant zinc-lead -silver mineralization drilled but not yet classified as mineral resources. The
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project also includes option agreements on large blocks of adjacent claim s (MAC, MC, MP, Jerry, BR
and NS) which cover exploration targets in the district where previous and recent work identified zinc,
lead and silver prospects, and geophysical and geochemical anomalies in prospective host geology.
Additional information about Fireweed Zinc and its Macmillan Pass Zinc Project including maps and drill
sections can be found on the Company’s website at www.FireweedZinc.com and at www.sedar.com.
ON BEHALF OF FIREWEED ZINC LTD.
“Brandon Macdonald”
CEO & Director
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the
policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Cautionary Statements
This news release may contain “forward -looking” statements and information relating to the Company and the
Macmillan Pass Project that are based on the beliefs of Company management, as well as assumptions made by and
information currently available to Company management. Such statements reflect the current risks, uncertainties and
assumptions related to certain factors including but not limited to, without limitations, exploration and development
risks, expenditure and financing requirements, general economic conditions, changes in financial markets, the ability
to properly and efficiently staff the Company’s operations, the sufficiency of working capital and funding for
continued operations, title matters, First Nations relations, operating hazards, political and economic factors,
competitive factors, metal prices, relationships with vendors and strategic partners, governmental regulations and
oversight, permitting, seasona lity and weather, technological change, industry practices, and one -time events.
Additional risks are set out in the Company’s prospectus dated May 9, 2017, and filed under the Company’s profile
on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Should any one or more risks or uncertainties materialize or change, or should any
underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results and forward -looking statements may vary materially from
those described herein. The Company does not undertake to update forward‐ looking statements or forward‐ looking
information, except as required by law.
Footnotes:
1. The sample for drill hole NB19-002 interval 145.65-146.53 metres was reported as >60% Zn by the
laboratory who are working on carrying out a special titration assay in order to report a final value which
was not yet available at the time this news release was issued. A value of 60% Zn was used for purposes of
related interval calculations in Tables 1 and 2.
2. The average bulk density of the mineralized rock in NB19-002 is 3.06 t/m3.
3. Estimation of true widths of intervals in Tables 1, 2 and 3 is based on preliminary geological interpretation
of historic and new drilling data. Mineralization overall at Boundary Zone appears to follow lithological
units which have a consistent ESE-WNW orientation with a moderate northerly dip. However, high grade
veins are oriented ESE-WNW with steep northerly dips which were used to estimate the individual true
widths (see Figure 3).
4. Historic results for the Boundary Zone reported in this news release are taken from historic reports
prepared by previous operators. Neither the Company or the Qualified Person has done sufficient work to
verify these results and therefore these results should not be relied upon. The Company is including them
for information purposes to explain the basis for the exploration target and reasons for drilling.
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FIGURE 1: MACMILLAN PASS MINERALIZATION
SHOWING LOCATION OF TOM, JASON, BOUNDARY AND END ZONES
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FIGURE 2: BOUNDARY ZONE GEOLOGY, MINERALIZATION AND DRILL HOLES
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FIGURE 3: BOUNDARY ZONE CROSS SECTION WITH 2019 DRILL HOLES
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TABLE 2: BOUNDARY ZONE DRILL HOLE NB19-002 DETAILED RESULTS
Drill Hole2 From
(meters)
To
(meters)
Interval
(meters)
Estimated True
Width (meters) 3 Zinc (%) Lead (%) Silver (g/t)
NB19-002 8.00 330.00 322.00 230 4.14 0.30 9.7
including 8.00 150.30 142.30 100 7.95 0.10 11.1
including 8.00 14.00 6.00 4.2 5.57 0.02 5.44
including 27.80 40.10 12.30 8.7 9.20 0.04 11.47
including 82.35 83.13 0.78 0.6 41.00 0.91 72.20
including 115.81 127.00 11.19 7.9 17.47 0.08 35.97
including 115.81 116.19 0.38 0.3 31.60 0.06 44.80
including 120.64 127.00 6.36 4.5 28.72 0.13 59.93
including 122.80 124.94 2.14 1.5 43.81 0.24 98.80
including 139.35 148.42 9.07 6.4 42.49 0.75 42.14
including 140.48 142.52 2.04 1.4 55.28 1.86 78.81
including 145.65 146.53 0.88 0.6 >601 0.20 61.20
including 150.30 330.00 179.70 130 1.11 0.45 8.59
including 289.81 307.70 17.89 undetermined 3.03 1.79 28.86
including 289.81 291.98 2.17 undetermined 6.30 5.00 73.17
including 304.65 307.70 3.05 undetermined 5.57 3.70 57.27