The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
First holes test the large Camp Creek porphyry copper target North of 60 Mining News – May 19, 2023
This first of eight to 10 deep holes slated to test the Camp Creek porphyry copper-gold-silver target during the 2023 drill program at Thorn.
Click on image for larger Thorn copper geochemistry map.
Brixton Metals Corp. May 17 announced the start of an up to 20,000-meter drill program on the company's Thorn copper-gold project in the northern reaches of British Columbia's Golden Triangle.
The 2,863-square-kilometer (1,105 square miles) Thorn project, which hosts both porphyry copper-gold-silver-molybdenum targets and high-grade epithermal gold targets, has attracted the interest of one of the world's largest mining companies.
Late last year, BHP Group Ltd. invested C$13.6 million to acquire a 19.9% interest in Brixton, with the funds designated primarily for further exploration at Thorn.
A technical committee between Brixton and BHP has developed a 2023 drill program that will primarily focus on the copper-dominant Camp Creek porphyry and the gold-dominant Trapper target.
"We are excited to have an early start to our exploration season. Our first priority will be focused on the Camp Creek copper dominant porphyry target followed by the Trapper Gold Target later in the campaign," said Brixton Metals Vice President of Exploration Christina Anstey. "We are keen to expand on the known high-grade mineralization and test interpreted extents at both targets throughout the season."
This deep drilling has begun to test a large porphyry target at Camp Creek.
Highlights from drilling at Camp Creek over the past two years include:
• 976.5 meters averaging 0.22% copper, 0.07 grams per metric ton gold, 2.06 g/t silver, and 154.4 parts per million molybdenum in hole THN21-183.
• 821.3 meters averaging 0.24% copper, 0.1 g/t gold, 2.44 g/t silver, and 174.3 ppm molybdenum in hole THN21-184.
• 967.7 meters averaging 0.25% copper, 0.09 g/t gold, 2.39 g/t silver, and 186 ppm molybdenum in hole THN22-201.
• 709 meters averaging 0.24% copper, 0.06 g/t gold, 2.42 g/t silver, and 140.5 ppm molybdenum in hole THN22-213.
• 779.7 meters averaging 0.23% copper, 0.05 g/t gold, 2.46 g/t silver, and 234.7 ppm molybdenum in hole THN22-213.
Brixton says this thick porphyry body is at least 1,000 meters squared and could extend up to 2,000 meters along strike.
With two rigs turning, Brixton plans to begin this year's program with eight to 10 holes drilled to a depth of at least 1,200 meters.
The 2023 program will also include drilling at Trapper, a volcanic-hosted epithermal gold target about five miles (eight kilometers) southeast of Camp Creek.
Highlights from 2022 drilling at Trapper include:
• 304.5 meters averaging 1.19 g/t gold in hole THN22-237, including 14 meters averaging 10.7 g/t gold.
• 398.3 meters averaging 0.85 g/t gold in hole THN22-243, including 6.6 meters averaging 20.71 g/t gold.
• 199 meters averaging 1.12 g/t gold in hole THN22-248, including three meters averaging 17.15 g/t gold.
• 253 meters averaging 1.4 g/t gold in hole THN22-244, including 12.3 meters averaging 16.18 g/t gold.
The gold zone outlined so far at Trapper has been traced for more than 400 meters along strike.
Follow-up drilling at Trapper will get underway after the snowpack retreats, which is expected by mid-June. The objective of this drilling is to expand the gold mineralization along strike and at depth, as well as testing sub-parallel structures to the north and south of the main target area.
Follow-up work is planned around multiple untested surface gold anomalies that have been identified up to 500 meters away from the main drilling area.
In addition to high-grade gold, Trapper has also shown strong copper potential. Rock samples collected from the Trapper area have returned grades as high as 5.1%, 2.76%, 1.93%, and 1.22% copper.
Brixton plans to test several copper surface anomalies peripheral to the gold zone for a copper porphyry link to the gold target at Trapper.
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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