Melt, drills expose Newmont Lake copper

Crystal Lake Mining Corp. Sept. 4 reported rich copper mineralization in core and from outcrop freshly exposed from the rapid retreat of snow and ice on its Newmont Lake project in British Columbia's Golden Triangle.

Situated about 30 kilometers (19 miles) northwest of Skeena Resources' Eskay Creek project and about the same distance southeast of Teck Resources and Newmont Goldcorp's Galore Creek project, Newmont Lake is in an area known for copper and gold deposits.

NW Zone, which is related to the northeast trending McLymont fault on the Newmont Lake property, hosts 1.4 million metric tons of historical inferred resource containing 6.79 million pounds of copper, 200,000 oz gold and 291,000 oz silver.

Chachi is a northeast trending corridor along the McLymont fault system about 6,000 meters northwest of NW Zone.

Crystal Lake said this corridor, which extends for about 8,000 meters along strike and is 3,000 meters wide, is defined by an extensive review of historical geochemical and geophysical data. The entire corridor, which is experiencing unprecedented glacial retreat, has been the primary focus of Crystal Lake's 2019 summer exploration program.

With the mineral exploration expertise of HEG & Associates Exploration Services, this program has included the collection of 2,500 soil samples; 1,500 rock samples for assay; assaying of historical unsampled core; induced polarization (IP) geophysical survey; 4,000 meters of core drilling; mapping; and construction of camp and logistical network at Newmont Lake.

Crystal Lake said this work has delineated major new discoveries along the Burgundy Ridge copper-gold-silver porphyry trend; new high-grade gold targets near the historical NW Zone resource; and along the greater 10km long Newmont Lake Gold Corridor along the McLymont Fault.

The program continues to produce new mineral discoveries on surface on a weekly basis and, two diamond drill rigs are still turning on both the Burgundy Ridge copper-gold-silver system; and the Newmont Lake Gold Corridor Trend.

The company said results from the 2019 surface exploration and drilling at Burgundy Ridge are providing further evidence for the presence of a porphyry copper-gold-silver trend that extends for 2,300 meters.

While assays from the 2019 program are still pending Crystal Lake reports that porphyry copper-gold-silver and related high-grade skarn mineralization first sampled in 2012 is visually evident in the core.

A reverse circulation drill program carried out by Crystal Lake late in 2018 encountered this porphyry and skarn mineralization. The last hole of this drilling cut 58 meters of 0.31 percent copper and 0.27 g/t gold, followed by 1.5 meters of 2.6 percent copper.

Crystal Lake said preliminary interpretations of the 2019 surface and drilling indicate a large high-grade skarn body adjacent to a porphyry system.

Further drilling roughly 2,300 meters to the northeast along the Burgundy trend encountered disseminated and vein-hosted chalcopyrite and bornite (copper minerals) adjacent to historical high-grade copper-gold-silver skarn-type mineralization.

Unprecedented ice and snow retreat is exposing new copper mineralization showings along the trend.

"The vastness of copper with associated gold and silver mineralization of multiple styles starting at surface is really impressive," said HEG President and CEO Cole Evans. "Our team has been tracking ice and snow retreat with a variety of tools. As it retreats, we are consistently being rewarded with new exposures of high-grade mineralization on surface. The first ever look at the subsurface from 2019 diamond drilling is giving us the confidence to make aggressive step outs with mineralization open along trend and at depth."

Crystal Lake Mining said the combination of new surface discoveries, lithological (rock formation) orientations, and mapping along the Burgundy trend provide further evidence for the presence of a porphyry and high-grade skarn system similar to the world-class Galore Creek copper-gold-silver deposit to the northwest.

–SHANE LASLEY