Alexco Resource Corp. (NYSE American: AXU) (TSX: AXU) reports initial results from the 2019 Bermingham “deep target” drilling program at the Keno Hill Silver District property in Canada’s Yukon Territory. The 2019 drill program was designed to follow up prior drill results indicating potential for deeper mineralization at Bermingham (see news release dated January 21, 2019, entitled “Alexco 2018 Reconnaissance Drilling Confirms Continuation Of Bermingham Mineralization at Depth and Identifies an Offset Extension, Identifies New Gold Targets”), with a specific aim to test for the presence of mineralization in a deeper stratigraphic zone, which also hosts the adjacent historic Hector Calumet deposit. Success in the 2019 Bermingham deep drilling program will now drive a much larger follow up drilling program, the timing and drill-technology for which is under review.

Shallower drilling has also been completed adjacent to the Bermingham Northeast Resource Zone with the aim of expanding the mineral resource adjacent to anticipated mining areas.  

Highlights

Bermingham Deep

• K-19-0740, drilled approximately 200 meters below the northeast portion of the Bermingham deposit, intersected the Bermingham Footwall Vein structure over an 8.15 m true width from 580.29 m that averaged 1,414 grams per tonne (45.46 ounces per tonne) silver including two discrete veins, one with 1.51 m true width grading 4,755 g/t (152.88 oz/t ) Ag from 580.09 m, and the other with 0.42 m true width grading 10,105 g/t (324.88 oz/t) Ag from 590.82 m.
• K-19-0732, drilled at a similar depth and 150 m southwest of K-19-0740, also intersected the Bermingham Footwall Vein over a true width of 0.93 m grading 2,514 g/t (80.84 oz/t) Ag from 547.33 m including a true width of 0.48 m grading 4,750 g/t (152.72 oz/t) Ag over from 547.33 m.

Bermingham Northeast

• K-19-0733, drilled approximately 30 m beyond the indicated resource in the Northeast Zone, intersected the Bear Vein over a true width of 4.13 m grading 1,331 g/t (42.79 oz/t) Ag from 329.00 m including 1.11 m true width grading 2,672 g/t (85.91 oz/t) Ag from 329.00 m and 0.43 m true width grading 5,890 g/t Ag (189.37 oz/t) from 334.00 m.

Alexco’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Clynt Nauman commented: “The confirmation of high-grade silver mineralization at relatively deep levels below our existing Bermingham deposit is first and foremost an outstanding technical (and hopefully economic) success. This discovery confirms our view that the Bermingham deposit, which currently contains more than 40 million ounces of silver in all categories may be much larger, and certainly well within the upper quartile of historic or contemporary discoveries/deposits in the Keno Hill Silver District. Clearly a large follow up drilling program is now required; whether we execute this from underground or from the surface is still under review. Either way, these results are unlikely to alter our mine plan in the short term. In comparison however, and as reported here, the presence of high grade silver mineralization adjacent but beyond the current NE Zone resource may well expand our mining opportunity in this particular area. Again, further work is required”.

Geology and Drilling Detail

The 2019 exploration drilling has confirmed the presence of an extensive potentially deeply rooted mineralizing system at Bermingham, characterized by wide structural zones containing silver and base metal bearing veins up to and over 200 m depth below the outlined resource areas where deposition may have been related to possible higher-level boiling activity.

Drilling detail for Bermingham is as follows:

Bermingham Deep target – Five holes were completed for 3,707.5 m to test the Bermingham and Bermingham Footwall veins within the same stratigraphy that hosted the 96 million ounce historic producing Hector-Calumet mine located one km to the northeast of the Bermingham deposit. Hole lengths ranged up to 771.5 m and intersection points were designed at wide spacings of 50 – 180 m intervals to test structural and stratigraphic targets in a framework similar to the much shallower Bermingham deposit.

Bermingham Northeast – Four holes were completed for 1,432 m designed to test the potential for expanding the resource. Further drilling is now required to more thoroughly test open ground further to the northeast and at depth in that area.

Ongoing Drilling

Drilling continues on a series of shallow targets on Galena Hill with an additional 2,400 m to be completed in three primary target areas, with much of this work guided by geophysical work carried out in 2018. The targeting objective remains unchanged, to test for shallow, blind targets in areas where structural and stratigraphic extrapolations indicate the possibility for discovery of additional Bermingham or Flame & Moth type silver deposits. Results from this work will be available in Q4 2019.

Qualified Persons

The disclosure in this news release of scientific and technical information regarding exploration projects on Alexco’s mineral properties has been reviewed and approved by Alan McOnie, FAusIMM, Vice President, Exploration, who is a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 – Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.

About Alexco

Alexco owns the majority of the historic high-grade Keno Hill Silver District in Canada’s Yukon Territory. Alexco also operates a wholly-owned subsidiary business, Alexco Environmental Group, that provides mine-related environmental services, remediation technologies and reclamation and mine closure services to both government and industry clients in North America and elsewhere.

APPENDICES

Table 1 – Drill Hole Details

Table 2 – Assay Composites

Figure 1 – Drill Hole Locations (CNW Group/Alexco Resource Corp.)