The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
Unveils much larger East Ridge copper-gold exploration target North of 60 Mining News – March 17, 2023
Core from drilling at East Ridge, a large resource expansion target at Newcrest's Red Chris Mine in BC's Golden Triangle.
Click on image for larger map of Red Chris mineralization.
Newcrest Mining Ltd. and Imperial Metals Corp. March 13 announced that the East Ridge exploration target at the Red Chris copper-gold mine in Northern British Columbia is shaping up to be substantially larger than originally envisioned.
Based on drilling completed up to mid-2022, Newcrest estimated that East Ridge could host up to 170 million metric tons of resource averaging 0.5% (2 billion pounds) copper and 0.5 grams per metric ton (2.8 million ounces) gold on the low end, and up to 300 million tons of resource averaging 0.4% (2.9 billion lb) copper and 0.4 g/t (4.3 million oz) gold on the high-end.
Recent drilling, however, has significantly enlarged the mineralized envelope and further refined the potential grades at East Ridge.
Newcrest now estimates this exploration target extending off the east end of the underground mining target at Red Chris hosts 400 metric tons of potential resource averaging 0.49% (4.2 billion lb) copper and 0.42 g/t (5.4 million oz) gold on the low end, and up to 500 million metric tons averaging 0.47 % (6.1 billion lb) copper and 0.39 g/t (6.1 million oz) gold on the high end.
"The scale of East Ridge and its proximity to our existing infrastructure, means it has the potential to play a significant role in the long-term future of Red Chris," said Sherry Duhe, interim CEO at Newcrest Mining.
While the drilling has defined a large mineralized body at East Ridge, an actual resource estimate has not been calculated for this exploration target.
As of mid-2022, the underground portion of Red Chris hosts 670 million metric tons of measured and indicated resources averaging 0.46 g/t (10 million oz) gold and 0.4% (2.7 million metric tons) copper; plus 180 million metric tons of inferred resource averaging 0.32 g/t (1.8 million oz) gold and 0.3% (540,000 metric tons) copper.
This already robust resource stands to expand significantly with the addition of East Ridge and expand upon Newcrest's plans to use block cave techniques to mine the underground resources at Red Chris.
A 2021 prefeasibility study details an underground block cave mining operation that is expected to produce 4.9 million oz of gold and 1.5 million metric tons of copper from 406 million metric tons of ore over roughly 31 years of mining.
Newcrest has already developed an exploration decline that will provide a platform for underground drilling of more than 2,700 meters.
Drilling indicates East Ridge could contain higher-grade gold and copper than Cave Block 2, the second zone that is currently slated for block cave mining.
Because of this, Newcrest is considering the possibility of mining East Ridge before Cave Block 2, or even advancing a second production front in parallel to the main underground development at Red Chris.
"We believe East Ridge represents a considerable opportunity for Newcrest as we continue to pursue further options to unlock value at Red Chris," Duhe added.
To fully understand this opportunity, Newcrest is focusing the bulk of its exploration efforts on the East Ridge target.
So far, drilling has outlined a mineralized corridor at East Ridge that is 900 meters long, up to 1,000 meters thick, and 250 meters wide, with several pods of higher-grade mineralization.
At least 10 additional drill holes are planned to determine geotechnical and metallurgical characteristics at East Ridge. This drilling program is expected to be completed before mid-year and be incorporated into an updated mineral resource estimate for Red Chris.
Newcrest owns a 70% interest in and operates Red Chris under a joint venture with Imperial Metals, which owns the remaining 30% stake in the Northern BC copper-gold mine.
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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