The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
Expansion of 1.4-million-oz Taurus deposit is a primary target North of 60 Mining News – June 3, 2022
A rainbow touches down near the past-producing Taurus gold mine on the Cassiar property in Northern British Columbia.
Cassiar Gold Corp. June 1 announced the start of a 20,000-meter drill program on its namesake gold property in Northern British Columbia.
Located about 55 miles (90 kilometers) southwest of Watson Lake, Yukon, the 145,800-acre (59,000 hectares) Cassiar gold property is divided into two areas – Cassiar North, which hosts the bulk tonnage Taurus gold deposit, and Cassiar South, which hosts multiple high-grade gold targets.
Roughly half of this year's drilling will be drilled in and around Taurus, which hosts 37.9 million metric tons of inferred resource averaging 1.14 grams per metric ton (1.39 million ounces) gold.
Approximately 8,000 meters of the 2022 program at Taurus will be focused on step-out drilling. This will begin with eight holes drilled east of the resource to evaluate the potential for expansion of known mineralization adjacent to the historical Taurus Mine, which produced 35,000 oz of gold from ore averaging 3.5 g/t gold.
A second phase of the resource expansion program will include roughly 12 step-out and infill holes to test possible lateral, down-dip and down-plunge extensions of higher-grade mineralization in the western parts of the Taurus deposit, as well as the continuity of mineralization across the mineralization-controlling Taurus West Fault. A step-out hole at the Wings Canyon regional target, where drilling in 2009 cut 128.5 meters averaging 0.56 g/t gold and 90.6 meters averaging 0.55 g/t gold, is also planned for the second phase.
Another 2,000 meters of drilling at Taurus will involve infill holes designed to link mineralization within areas of the deposit where gaps in mineralization are present due to historical drill holes being too widely spaced, as well as two or three deeper holes aimed at potentially expanding mineralization at depth and testing for potential stacked mineralized zones.
Cassiar plans to complete roughly another 5,000 meters of drilling at Cassiar South, which hosts numerous gold-bearing shear veins and several past-producing underground mines that have historically produced over 315,000 oz of gold from ore with grades between 10 and 20 g/t gold.
Extensive historical drilling and mining data have been used to identify and prioritize targets based on potential areas for vertical stacking of new vein systems within favorable stratigraphy; lateral and down-dip extensions of known vein systems; and parallel sets of productive vein systems that could help identify new corridors of high-grade veins similar to those that have been historically mined.
The remaining 5,000 meters will test high-priority regional targets that will be based on the results of the geologic mapping and sampling work being carried out at priority prospects on the property.
"Results from our 2021 drill program have demonstrated the robust nature and resource growth potential of our Taurus deposit as well as the ability of our technical team to successfully tap into prospective high-grade vein systems at Cassiar South," said Cassiar Gold President and CEO Marco Roque. "We are excited to return to the property this year with our largest drill program so far to build upon last year's success. We also look forward to testing a series of high-priority regional targets with the goal of making new discoveries across our district-scale property package."
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)