Skeena said the above result, which graded 7.17g/t gold and 146g/t silver, was at the 21C Zone and within the 25m "development buffer" around historic workings which it was previously restricted from drilling.

The company also pointed to "unexpected remnant mineralisation" in the 21B Zone, 200m to the east, where it intersected 2.61m at 13.32g/t Au-eq and 22.8m at 5.63g/t Au-eq in the footwall to the same stope.

It said the phase two drilling programme, focused on resource category conversions for a prefeasibility study, was now complete and six rigs were active doing near-mine exploration.

The company is planning a breakout year in 2021 as it aims to bring the former Barrick Gold mine to a production decision.

A 2019 preliminary economic assessment had outlined initial capex of US$223 million, after-tax NPV5 of $491 million and IRR of 51%, for an 8.6-year mine producing an average annual 236,000 ounces of gold and 5.8 million ounces of silver, or 306,000oz gold-equivalent.

The PEA was based on a $1,325/oz gold price and $16/oz for silver, well below current spot prices around $1,840/oz and $25/oz respectively.

Skeena raised C$8.5 million in a fully subscribed placement priced at $3.50 per share in December, to advance its projects in BC.

It had raised $46 million at $2.35 per share in November.

It's also exploring its Snip project, another former mine in the province it acquired from Barrick.

Skeena shares (TSX: SKE) reached a 12-month high of $3.69 mid-month.

They closed up 2.9% to $3.24 yesterday, capitalising it about $702 million (US$551 million).