Tracing high-grade gold-silver at Phoenix

Benchmark Metals Inc. Oct.7 reported that its first 2019 hole at the Phoenix zone on its fully owned Lawyers project in northern British Columbia cut 2.87 meters averaging 46.9 grams per metric ton (1.5 ounces per metric ton) gold and 3,056 g/t (98.2 oz/t) silver.

Phoenix is one of four mineralized areas – Cliff Creek, Dukes Ridge, Amethyst Gold Breccia (AGB) and Phoenix – that have been identified within a 3,000-meter radius in the central portion of the greater than 20-kilometer- (12.4 miles) long Lawyers trend.

Three of these zones – Cliffs Creek, Phoenix and AGB – produced 171,200 oz of gold and 3.6 million oz of silver from a small underground mine project that operated for four years beginning in 1989.

Historical records from the mine operator, Cheni Gold Mines, indicate that 4,934 metric tons of Phoenix ore ran through the mill produced 6,713 oz of gold and 296,084 oz of silver for a realized grade of 38.56 g/t gold (1.36 oz/t) and 1,700 g/t silver (60 oz/t). This historical mining only reached a depth of 35 meters.

One hole drilled last year, 18PXD002, cut 3.95 meters of 10.99 g/t gold and 819.43 g/t silver about 15 meters below the historical workings.

The 2.87 meters of 1.5 oz/t gold and 98.7 oz/t silver in the most recent hole, 19PXDD001, is about 50 meters below 18PXD002 and this high-grade gold-silver system remains open at depth and along strike.

Though immediately adjacent to Dukes Ridge, the mineralization being traced at Phoenix is different than the other zones.

The Phoenix mineralization is hosted within a one- to four-meter thick quartz vein containing massive sulfides. Benchmark said some smaller stockwork-style veinlets more reminiscent of the other Lawyers Trend zones have been identified within the Phoenix Zone, especially as you near Dukes Ridge to the northwest, suggesting that there may be at least two overprinting and intersecting mineralization events.

"The Phoenix massive sulfide vein that we discovered in 2018 represents another style of mineralization to be explored along the Lawyers Trend," said Benchmark Metals CEO John Williamson. "The new drill hole has extended the high-grade Phoenix Zone to nearly 150 meters in depth from surface, while anomalous geochemistry and geophysics indicate that this zone could be extended to over one kilometer in total length with additional drilling, which we will pursue in the weeks to come."

In addition to the drilling at Phoenix, the 2019 program has successfully tapped gold and silver mineralization at the three other Lawyers trend zones.

A resource calculated last year for Benchmark included 550,000 metric tons of inferred resource at Cliffs Creek averaging 4.51 grams per metric ton (80,000 ounces) gold and 209.2 g/t (3.7 million oz) silver; and 58,000 metric tons of inferred resource at Dukes Ridge averaging 4.3 g/t (8,000 oz) gold and 139.1 g/t (260,000 oz) silver.

Drilling has extended Cliff Creek gold and silver mineralization. The first 2019 Cliff Creek hole cut 26.75 meters of 2.19 g/t gold and 85.36 g/t silver, including a high-grade 4.4 meter intercept 11.73 g/t gold and 476 g/t silver.

Benchmark's first ever hole at AGB, 19AGBDD001, cut 25 meters averaging 2.79 g/t gold and 177 g/t silver, including seven meters of 5.37 g/t gold and 214 g/t silver. Based on Benchmark's results and historical data, AGB Zone is at least 550 meters in strike length and up to 30 meters wide and extends to at least 170 meters at depth.

Benchmark's work at Lawyers has garnered the attention of Eric Sprott, who recently invested C$4 million to acquire roughly 14.7 percent of the company's issued and outstanding shares. This investment was part of C$6 million raised by Benchmark in two financings that closed in late September. The company expects to raise an additional C$1.4 million with a second tranche of flow-through financing expected to close later this month.

–SHANE LASLEY