The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
Drills tap alteration similar to 2020 Marmot discovery hole North of 60 Mining News – September 3, 2021
Alteration tapped in hole 21MLDD009 at the recently discovered Marmot gold zone on Benchmark Metals' Lawyers project in Northern British Columbia.
Benchmark Metals Inc. Sept. 2 provided an update on its ongoing exploration at Marmot and Marmot East, potential resource expansion zones on the company's Lawyers gold project in Northern British Columbia.
According to a calculation published in May, the Cliff Creek, AGB, and Dukes Ridge deposits at Lawyers host 40.3 million metric tons of indicated resource averaging 1.19 grams per metric ton (1.55 million ounces) gold and 38.7 g/t (50.2 million oz) silver; plus 16.2 million metric tons of inferred resource averaging 1.19 g/t (620,000 oz) gold and 34.7 g/t (18.1 million oz) silver.
While much of this year's more than 100,000-meter drill program at Lawyers is focused on upgrading and expanding these zones, roughly 12,500 meters have been earmarked for Marmot and Marmot East, where grab samples with up to 61.3 g/t gold and 3,890 g/t silver have been collected.
The discovery hole drilled at Marmot last year, 20MLDD005, cut 101 meters averaging 0.55 g/t gold and 21.8 g/t silver.
This year's drilling at Marmot zone is targeting approximately 1,550 meters of a northwest-trending structural corridor that is interpreted as a significant control on mineralization.
Benchmark says initial observations of core from this year's drilling at Marmot, which got underway in late July, are visually comparable to the 2020 discovery hole. This includes intense alteration observed over 56 meters from a depth of 69 to 125 meters in hole 21MLDD009.
With this intercept, the footprint for the Marmot zone now extends beyond 350 meters in strike-length, with gold-silver mineralization at surface supported by geophysics, geochemistry, structural mapping, and shallow drilling.
"This latest intercept of visible mineralization within a broad alteration zone in 21MLDD009 is 350 meters along-strike from our discovery hole at Marmot and demonstrates the developing continuity and robust nature of this system," said Benchmark Metals CEO John Williamson. "This visual result continues to demonstrate the significant potential of the Marmot zone to generate near-surface gold and silver ounces as a potential satellite deposit within three kilometers of our resource zones."
As of Sept. 2, a total of 2,734 meters of drilling has been completed in nine holes at Marmot, plus 488 meters in two holes at Marmot East.
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)