The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
Benchmark and Thesis finalize a district consolidating merger North of 60 Mining News - August 23, 2023
Benchmark Metals is already nearly two months into a 20,000-meter drill program targeting deep gold-silver zones below the proposed open pits on the Lawyers property. At the same time, Thesis Gold has been carrying out a 30,000-meter program on the adjacent Ranch gold-silver property.
Benchmark Metals Inc. and Thesis Gold Inc. have completed a merger that brings together two large gold projects in Northern British Columbia's Toodoggone Mining District and the teams behind their success.
"This merger has given rise to an expansive district-scale development and exploration endeavors, characterized by remarkable potential for growth," said Ewan Webster, president and CEO of the new Thesis Gold.
The most advanced of the projects in the merged portfolio is Lawyers, a 144-square-kilometer (56 square miles) land package contributed by Benchmark that hosts 67.38 million metric tons of measured and indicated resources averaging 1.26 grams per metric ton (2.74 million ounces) gold and 24.39 g/t (52.9 million oz) silver; plus 4.87 million metric tons of inferred resource averaging 2.39 g/t (378,000 oz) gold and 39.41 g/t (6.2 million oz) silver.
A preliminary economic assessment based on this resource envisions ore from open-pit mines at three Lawyers deposits – AGB, Cliff Creek, and Dukes Ridge – feeding a centrally located mill that would produce 1.7 million oz of gold and 26.7 million oz of silver over an initial 12 years of mining.
Lying immediately north of Lawyers, Thesis' 180,000-square-kilometer (69 square miles) Ranch property is at an earlier stage of exploration but has shown some intriguing near-surface gold results.
Highlights from roughly 40,000 meters of drilling completed at Ranch during 2022 include:
• 17.5 meters averaging 3.41 g/t gold and 23.51 g/t silver in hole 22BNZDD004.
• 91 meters averaging 1.81 g/t gold and 8.41 g/t silver in hole 22BNZDD008.
• 50.3 meters averaging 1.86 g/t gold and 5.96 g/t silver in hole 22BNGDD008.
• 95.7 meters averaging 1.6 g/t gold and 1.74 g/t silver in hole 22TH3DD015.
• 20.3 meters averaging 4.69 g/t gold and 15.29 g/t silver in hole 22RDGDD037.
Even as they were endeavoring to finalize the paperwork and gain all the approvals for the merger, the two gold-silver exploration companies were carrying out separate but coordinated drill programs aimed at achieving a master plan for the consolidated land package.
"The next 12-15 months will be transformative with a planned 50,000 meters of drilling already underway between both projects, focusing on resource growth, exploration, and discovery; and the culmination of this work will deliver an updated resource estimate for both projects, including high-grade near surface material at the Ranch Project; and an updated PEA will add high-grade underground material from Lawyers in addition to any resource from Ranch," said Webster. "These milestones and timelines have been developed to unlock substantial value and solidify the potential of the deposits within these two projects at a world-class project level."
On July 1, Benchmark launched a 20,000-meter drill program primarily focused on further evaluating and expanding the deep high-grade gold and silver zones at the adjacent Cliff Creek and Duke's Ridge deposits.
The decision to expand upon the deep extensions of these deposits follows post-PEA optimization studies that indicate underground mining could significantly improve the economics of the proposed operation at Lawyers.
Machine learning and geochemistry models generated by Maptek, a leading geological mapping and modeling technology company, show the potential for expansion of high-grade mineralized zones at Cliff Creek and Duke's Ridge that are controlled by major structures and remain open along strike and at depth.
This high-grade expansion potential of these zones is underscored by intercepts below the deposits:
• 4.82 meters averaging 11.58 g/t gold and 711.9 g/t silver in hole 20CCDD048 (Cliff Creek).
• 21 meters averaging 4.04 g/t gold and 84.1 g/t silver in hole 21CCDD049 (Cliff Creek).
• 13.74 meters averaging 6.43 g/t gold and 378.6 g/t silver (Dukes Ridge).
These four- to 15-meter-thick zones of consistent high-grade mineralization remain open at depth and are a primary focus of the drilling currently underway at Lawyers.
In late July, the company reported that drilling had successfully tapped into the deep gold-silver zones.
"Our drilling to date continues to encounter significant mineralization beneath the Dukes Ridge open pit deposit," John Williamson, former CEO of Benchmark and current chairman of the new Thesis Gold, said on July 20. "While our previous PEA was based solely on open-pit mining, we see a significant opportunity to introduce underground mining methods. This could potentially increase the mineable resource and introduce higher-grade material earlier in the mine life."
As Benchmark was mobilizing for the deep drilling at Lawyers, the yet-to-be-merged Thesis Gold was gearing up for a roughly 30,000-meter resource delineation and exploration at Ranch.
This resource drilling is primarily targeting the Thesis Structural Corridor (TSC) and Bonanza-Ridge zone, where mineralization remains open at depth and along strike.
Highlights from 2022 drilling at Ranch include:
• 59 meters averaging 1.6 g/t gold in hole 22THDD004 (TSC).
• 91 meters averaging 1.81 g/t gold in 22BNZDD008 (Bonanza-Ridge).
• 50.3 meters averaging 1.86 g/t gold in 22BNGDD009 (TSC).
• 95.7 meters averaging 1.6 g/t gold in 22TH3DD015 (TSC).
• Seven meters averaging 11.69 g/t gold in 22RDGDD0047 (Bonanza-Ridge).
To date, drilling indicates that mineralization TSC extends for 1,500 meters along strike and reaches a depth of at least 400 vertical meters. This zone is represented by a 2,000- by 320-meter magnetic anomaly.
The fault-controlled gold mineralization at the Bonanza-Ridge zone occurs within and at the intersection of numerous structures. So far, drilling has traced mineralization for 700 meters and to a depth of 300 meters. A larger geochemical and geophysical anomaly at Bonanza-Ridge indicates the potential for significant growth.
In addition to building resources at TSC and Bonanza-Ridge, this year's program includes exploration drilling of the Steve, JK, and BV targets just southeast of these zones.
Last year's discovery at the Steve zone returned 119.2 meters averaging 0.97 g/t gold. The same mineralized zone was encountered in a second hole drilled about 220 meters along strike, indicating this target has scale potential.
One hole drilled at the JK prospect in 2021 cut 20.4 meters averaging 5.11 g/t gold.
The BV target area underlies the historical BV Pit, which accounts for a portion of the 10,000 ounces of gold produced by Cheni Gold Mines Inc. in 1991. The area has not been drilled since 1997, but historical samples from more than 25 trenches yielded greater than 10 g/t gold, warranting modern drilling.
The 2023 program at Ranch also includes geophysics and sampling over a highly prospective region of the property further to the southeast.
The now merged 50,000-meter drill program at Lawyers and Ranch aims to build one world-class gold-silver project under the new Thesis Gold banner.
"The combined company has near-term plans with significant value-added milestones that includes a new global mineral resource estimate and a updated Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA)," said Williamson. "The merger will generate a larger resource and stronger economics in the next engineering study."
Beyond consolidating Lawyers and Ranch into a district-scale project that is expected to bolster the economics of a future mine, the merger brings together talent from both teams.
In addition to Williamson and Webster, the seven-director board for the new Thesis Gold includes Keith Peck, Peter Gundy, and Jody Shimkus, appointed by Benchmark; and Nicholas Stajduhar and Thomas Mumford, appointed by Thesis.
Sean Mager, former director and chief financial officer for Benchmark, now serves as CFO for Thesis. Former Benchmark Vice President of Engineering Ian Harris now serves as chief operating officer for the merged company.
The 162.97 million common shares of the merged company will continue to be listed and posted for trading on the TSX-Venture Exchange under the former Thesis Gold trading symbol "TAU."
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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