The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
Millable resources more than double at copper-gold project North of 60 Mining News – July 17, 2020
The Casino deposit in the Yukon now hosts 2.17 billion metric tons of millable measured and indicated resources with 7.43 billion pounds of copper, 12.7 million ounces of gold, 100 million oz of silver and 812 million lb of molybdenum.
Geologists with core from drilling into the world-class Casino porphyry copper-gold deposit in Canada's Yukon Territory.
Western Copper and Gold Corp. July 13 announced that the tonnage of measured and indicated mill resources at its Casino copper-gold project in the Yukon has more than doubled.
A 2013 feasibility study for developing a mine at Casino envisions utilizing both a mill and heap leach to recover the copper, gold, silver, and molybdenum found there.
According to the new calculation, Casino now hosts 2.17 billion metric tons of millable measured and indicated resources averaging 0.16% (7.43 billion pounds) copper, 0.18 grams per metric ton (12.7 million ounces) gold, 1.4 g/t (100.2 million oz) silver, and 0.017% (811.6 million lb) molybdenum; plus 1.43 billion metric tons of millable inferred resource averaging 0.1% (3.24 billion lb) copper, 0.14 g/t (6.4 million oz) gold, 1.2 g/t (53.5 million oz) silver, and 0.01% (322.8 million lb) molybdenum.
This is the first estimate since 2010 and includes results from the 2019 drilling campaign, and drilling performed from 2010 through 2012 that was not available when the 2010 model was developed. It also incorporates an updated geologic model.
As a result, the millable measured and indicate tonnage increased 106%, and the amount of copper and gold in these categories increased by 3.3 billion lb and 6.6 million oz, respectively.
The measured and indicated heap leach resources at Casino also increased from the 2010 estimate and are now at 217.4 million metric tons averaging 0.03% (166.5 million lb) copper, 0.25 g/t (1.8 million oz) gold, and 1.9 g/t (13.3 million oz) silver.
"By more than doubling the measured and indicated mill resource, the Casino project is clearly one of the largest copper-gold projects in the world. This resource and the results of this year's drilling program will be incorporated in an updated feasibility study in the future," said Western Copper and Gold President and CEO Paul West-Sells. "We expect that, in addition to the significantly higher number of tonnes, that the strip ratio should decrease significantly due to the conversion of inferred material to measured and indicated in the pit."
Western is planning to drill at least 43 holes at Casino this year.
One of the primary targets of this drilling is High Gold, a zone of higher grade gold mineralization with the potential to significantly bolster the economics of a mine at Casino. One particularly high-grade intercept in hole DH19-21 returned 55.1 g/t gold over 2.97 meters from a depth of 147.98 meters near the southern edge of the large porphyry copper-gold deposit at Casino. Additional intercepts from 2019 drilling in the High Gold zone include one meter of 4.78 g/t gold from a depth of 174 meters in hole DH19-10, and two meters averaging 3.55 g/t gold from a depth of 129 meters in DH19-13.
The company also plans drilling at Northern Porphyry, which represents a new deposit on the north side of the main Casino deposit; Casino West, an 800- by 500-meter target immediately west of the main deposit; and Ana, which is further west.
Over his more than 16 years of covering mining and mineral exploration, Shane has become renowned for his ability to report on the sector in a way that is technically sound enough to inform industry insiders while being easy to understand by a wider audience.
Reader Comments(0)