The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
Copper-gold mineralization not bound by South Boundary fault North of 60 Mining News – March 12, 2021
Drilling has discovered strong copper-gold mineralization on the South Boundary fault, which runs along the southern border of the pit at Red Chris.
Newcrest Mining Ltd. and Imperial Metals Corp. March 10 announced the discovery of new zones of higher-grade copper-gold mineralization at Red Chris Mine that greatly expands the near-mine exploration potential of this property about 20 kilometers (12.5 miles) southeast of the Tatogga copper-gold project Newmont Corp. is acquiring through its C$393 million buy-out of GT Gold Corp.
Since Newcrest acquired a 70% interest in Red Chris in the fall of 2019, the Australia-based miner has completed more than 109,180 meters of drilling at the Northern British Columbia project, much of which has tested discovery targets outside of the resource.
The first four holes of the 2021 drilling at Red Chris have all encountered significant copper-gold mineralization, including an important new discovery dubbed East Ridge.
Newcrest's first hole at East Ridge, RC678, cut 198 meters averaging 0.89 grams per metric ton gold and 0.83% copper from a depth of 800 meters, including 76 meters averaging 1.8 g/t gold and 1.5% copper from 908 meters.
The company says the style of mineralization and grade tenor is similar to that seen in the high-grade pods at East Zone, which lies between East Ridge and the Main Zone at Red Chris. The intercept in hole RC678, a 300-meter step out east of East Zone, was encountered south of the South Boundary fault. As is implied by its name, the South Boundary fault marked the southern edge of the Main and East zones at Red Chris. The mineralization encountered at East Ridge extends the eastern end of the porphyry corridor.
"We are excited to announce the discovery of the East Ridge which is a new zone of higher-grade mineralization at Red Chris," said Newcrest Mining Managing Director and CEO Sandeep Biswas. "The initial intercept is open in all directions, with mineralization displaying similar characteristics to that of the high-grade pods in the East Zone. Drilling to determine the significance of this new zone is underway, with the results from this initial intercept highlighting the potential for additional discoveries at Red Chris."
In addition to the exciting East Ridge discovery, Newcrest and Imperial report that drilling at the East and Main zones continue to confirm the potential to expand higher-grade zones of mineralization at Red Chris.
This includes one hole that traced mineralization across the South Boundary fault at East Zone. This hole, RC677, cut 524 meters averaging 0.37 g/t gold and 0.39% copper from a depth of 528 meters, including 156 meters of 0.71 g/t gold and 0.59% copper from 638 meters. Newcrest says this interval also cut 10 meters of 1.5 g/t gold and 0.88% copper from 784 meters, which is located on the south side of the fault. Located 300 meters west of East Ridge, drilling to define the extent and continuity of this potential high-grade mineralization is underway.
RC675, which followed up historical drilling southwest of the Main Zone pit, cut 438 meters averaging 0.32 g/t gold and 0.41% copper from 264 meters, including 30 meters of 0.57 g/t gold and 0.77% copper from 340 meters. Newcrest says this mineralization lies alongside the South Boundary fault and is open at depth and along strike. Drilling to define the extent and continuity of potential high-grade mineralization in this area is underway.
In total, Newcrest and Imperial plan to complete 50,000 meters of exploration drilling at Red Chris this year.
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.
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