The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
Assays confirm resource model, indicate expansion potential North of 60 Mining News - November 15, 2023
Drilling done prior to American Pacific's buyout of Constantine Metals outlined a large VMS deposit rich in copper, zinc, silver, gold, and barite.
Click on image for larger Southwall Zone 1 drill intercept map.
American Pacific Mining Corp. Nov. 14 reported additional high-grade copper and zinc assays from the 2023 drill program at its Palmer volcanogenic massive sulfide project near the town of Haines in Southeast Alaska.
A preliminary economic assessment that was updated prior to American Pacific's acquisition of a roughly 45% joint venture interest in Palmer late last year outlines an underground mine and a 3,500-metric-ton-per-day mill at the project that would produce 1.07 billion pounds of zinc, 196 million lb of copper, 18 million ounces of silver, and 91,000 oz of gold over an initial 11-year mine life.
The Southwall and RW zones that make up the main Palmer deposit host 4.68 million metric tons of indicated resource averaging 5.23% (539 million lb) zinc, 1.49% (154 million lb) copper, 30.8 grams per metric ton (4.6 million oz) silver, and 0.3 g/t (451,000 oz) gold; plus 5.34 million metric tons of inferred resource averaging 5.2% (612 million lb) zinc, 0.96% (113 million lb) copper, 29.2 g/t (5 million oz) silver, and 0.28 g/t (48,100 oz) gold.
This year, American Pacific carried out a US$25.5 million program at Palmer funded by JV partner Dowa Metals & Mining Co. that primarily involved resource definition drilling of this deposit, as well as geotechnical drilling and environmental baseline work to support feasibility-level studies at Palmer.
In October, the company reported the first batch of results from drilling the Southwall 1 (upper) and Southwall 2-3 (lower) zones. Highlights from these holes include:
• 14.8 meters averaging 1.26% copper, 7.68% zinc, 0.44 g/t gold, and 39.8 g/t silver in hole CMR23-152 (Southwall 1).
• 23.4 meters averaging 1.78% copper, 13.73% zinc, 0.25 g/t gold, and 32.4 g/t silver in hole CMR23-153 (Southwall 1).
• 33.3 meters averaging 1.42% copper, 3.35% zinc, 0.14 g/t gold, and 14.5 g/t silver in hole CMR23-155 (Southwall 1).
• 27.2 meters averaging 1.87% copper, 3.48% zinc, 0.36 g/t gold, and 21.9 g/t silver in hole CMR23-157-01 (Southwall 2-3).
The latest batch of results are from an additional five holes testing Southwall Zone 1. Highlights include:
• 14.7 meters averaging 2.66% copper, 2.93% zinc, 0.21 g/t gold, and 30 g/t silver in hole CMR23-161.
• 30.7 meters averaging 2.59% copper, 11.21% zinc, 0.3 g/t gold, and 28.5 g/t silver in hole CMR23-162B.
• 39.1 meters averaging 1.44% copper, 5.87% zinc, 0.34 g/t gold, and 18.2 g/t silver in hole CMR23-165.
American Pacific says the assays from this year's drilling at Southwall Zone 1 have exceeded expectations. These intercepts support the current resource model and indicate the potential for additional mineralization down-dip and to the northeast of the currently outlined zone.
The company also reports that one geotechnical hole drilled at RW Oxide Zone (GT23-024) cut 10.8 meters averaging 1.28% copper, 13.13% zinc, 0.42 g/t gold, and 110.3 g/t silver. This intercept is about 100 meters outside of the bounds of the current resource estimate.
"We have received approximately half of the assays from this year's program, and we are very pleased with the Southwall Zone 1 extensions and significant copper-zinc-silver mineralization encountered in the RW Oxide Zone with one of our geotechnical drillholes," said American Pacific Mining CEO Warwick Smith. "This year's work, led by Peter Mercer, has established a solid foundation and technical vision for resource expansion and de-risking the project."
Overall, the 2023 program at Palmer included 27 resource definition holes (three were abandoned before targeted depth, two exploration holes at the Christmas Creek prospect, and 10 geotechnical holes.
Assays are pending for 12 of the resource holes and both exploration holes.
"We look forward to more assay results later this year and our continued collaboration with Dowa Metals and Mining in 2024," Smith added.
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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