The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
Including 19.9m of 7% copper at the Caribou Dome deposit North of 60 Mining News – February 25, 2022
Looking northwest toward the high-grade Caribou Dome copper deposit and camp on PolarX' Alaska Range property.
Coarse-grained native copper encountered in hole CD21-006 drilled at Caribou Dome. Assays are pending.
PolarX Ltd. Feb. 23 reported that its 2021 drill program at Caribou Dome has tapped thick lenses of high-grade copper that the outstanding quality of the mineral resource and potential for developing a mine at this deposit on the Australia-based company's Alaska Range property.
As its name suggests, this property covers a 22-mile- (35 kilometers) long stretch of the majestic and mineral-rich Alaska mountain range that arcs across the middle of the Far North state.
PolarX' 2021 program focused on two high-grade copper deposits already identified at Alaska Range.
This included eight holes drilled at Caribou Dome, which hosts 2.8 million metric tons of combined measured, indicated, and inferred resources averaging 3.1% (189.6 million pounds) copper in nine lenses of volcanic sediment-hosted mineralization.
Four of the holes drilled last year infilled known high-grade massive sulfide lenses to provide fresh samples for metallurgical testing to support a scoping study to assess the potential of processing ore from Caribou Dome in combination with ore mined from Zackly, a high-grade gold-copper-silver skarn deposit about 15 miles (nine miles) to the northeast.
Highlights from these first four holes include:
• 9.77 meters (6.45 meters estimated true thickness) averaging 6.8% copper and 7.8 grams per metric ton silver from a depth of 25.28 meters in hole CD21-001.
• 19.09 meters (12.6 meters true thickness) averaging 7% copper and 11.2 g/t silver from a depth of 45.16 meters in hole CD21-001.
• 5.85 meters (3.86 meters true thickness) averaging 6.8% copper and 10.9 g/t silver from a depth of 58.4 meters in hole CD21-001.
• 10.71 meters (7.5 meters true thickness) averaging 7.4% copper and 15.4 g/t silver from a depth of 26 meters in hole CD21-003.
"These are exceptional near-surface copper grades over substantial widths," said PolarX Executive Chair Mark Bojanjac. "Intercepts like 19 (meters) at 7% copper and 11 g/t silver are impressive by any measure. They help underpin the development potential for the project, which also has immense scope for expansion both along strike and at depth."
In addition to this infill drilling, PolarX drilled four holes to test potential expansion of the high-grade copper resource at Caribou Dome.
In October, the company reported this drilling encountered disseminated and vein-hosted native copper in volcanic rocks in three of these holes drilled roughly 1,150 meters apart. These holes lie within a larger 1,500- by 300-meter induced polarization geophysical anomaly.
"This discovery is a potential game-changer for PolarX because the same volcanic host rocks, along with multiple IP (geophysical) and geochemical targets, are widespread at Caribou Dome, meaning the exploration upside here is immense," PolarX Managing Director Frazer Tabeart said at the time. "With copper being such an important metal for the green energy transition, we're increasingly well placed to play a role in this market."
Assays are pending for the Caribou Dome resource expansion holes.
The assay and metallurgical results from the 2021 program will provide data for a scoping-level study that investigates the potential of processing ore from Caribou Dome and Zackly at a central processing facility on the Alaska Range property.
Based on drilling by PolarX and previous explorers, Zackly Main hosts 3.4 million metric tons of inferred resource averaging 1.2% (90.4 million pounds) copper, 2 grams per metric ton (213,000 oz) gold, and 14 g/t (1.5 million oz) silver.
Drilling by PolarX in 2018 and 2020 discovered and expanded upon Zackly East, a particularly robust skarn discovery made by the company in 2018 about 650 meters east of the resource.
Highlights from drilling at Zackly East include 54.6 meters averaging 2.8 g/t gold and 0.6% copper in hole ZX‐18020; 46.7 meters averaging 3.1 g/t gold and 0.6% copper in ZX‐18024; and 68.6 meters averaging 0.6 g/t gold and 0.3% copper in ZX20040.
The company says metallurgical work is currently being conducted on Zackly mineralization.
PolarX said the drilling, subsequent metallurgical work, and coming scoping study are part of its well-advanced option to earn an 80% joint venture interest in the Caribou Dome project.
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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