The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
North of 60 Mining News - March 15, 2024
Pacific Ridge Exploration Ltd. March 13 provided an overview and exploration plans for its copper-gold projects in northcentral British Columbia.
"We now own, or control five copper-gold porphyry projects located in the prolific Quesnel and Stikine terranes in northcentral B.C. and are inarguably one of the province's leading copper-gold exploration companies," said Pacific Ridge Exploration President and CEO Blaine Monaghan.
This portfolio of five copper-gold properties – Kliyul, Chuchi, RDP, Onjo, and Redton – lies between Centerra Gold's Kemess copper-gold mine project to the northwest and the Mount Milligan mine to the southeast.
Kliyul, which lies about 35 kilometers (22 miles) southeast of Kemess, has been the primary focus of Pacific Ridge's exploration since 2020. Over the previous three years, the company has completed roughly 17,500 meters of drilling focused on the expansion of the Kliyul Main Zone.
Highlights from this drilling include:
• 316.7 meters averaging 0.3% copper, 0.7 grams per metric ton gold, and 2.17 g/t silver in hole KLI-21-037.
• 328 meters averaging 0.25% copper, 0.57 g/t gold, and 1.25 g/t silver in hole KLI-22-050.
• 305.5 meters averaging 0.23% copper, 0.51 g/t gold, and 1.22 g/t silver in hole KLI-23-054.
This year, Pacific Ridge plans to carry out Z-Axis Tipper Electromagnetic (ZTEM) and magnetotelluric geophysical surveys to help identify higher-grade mineralization and a porphyry center to test with future drilling.
RDP, which lies about 40 kilometers (25 miles) west of Kliyul, was under an option to Antofagasta Minerals until January of this year.
From 2022 to 2024, Antofagasta funded 3,288 meters of drilling, 16 line-kilometers of induced polarization (IP) geophysical surveys, and sampling at RDP. The best hole, RDP-22-005, cut 497.2 meters averaging 0.37% copper, 0.47 g/t gold, and 1.6 g/t silver at the Day target.
Hole RDP-23-007, a 300-meter step out from RDP-22-005, indicates the potential for growth at RDP's Day target. The bottom 19 meters of this hole, which was drilled to a depth of 573 meters, averaged 0.32% copper, 0.19 g/t gold, and 1.08 g/t silver.
Pacific Ridge believes that the Day target and other target areas at RDP continue to offer significant discovery opportunities.
Chuchi, which lies at the southern end of Pacific Ridge's Northern B.C. portfolio and about 35 kilometers (19 miles) northwest of Centerra Gold's Mount Milligan Mine, has a long history of exploration. One hole drilled at the Digger zone in 1991 cut 229.2 meters averaging 0.09% copper and 2.1 g/t gold.
ZTEM and IP surveys carried out by Pacific Ridge suggest that there are underexplored high-grade centers within the BP-Digger zone that have not been fully delineated. Further, the core of the porphyry system has yet to be identified. The company believes that Chuchi offers a significant discovery opportunity and plans to launch its inaugural drill program as soon as it is practical to do so.
Onjo, which is about 15 kilometers (nine miles) south of Chuchi, hosts skarn and porphyry copper-gold mineralization.
Based on the style of mineralization encountered in historical drilling, combined with the presence of nearby skarn occurrences, Pacific Ridge believes that previous explorers discovered the upper or peripheral levels of a tilted porphyry system, and there is the potential that this system extends to depth.
Redton, which is about 50 kilometers (31 miles) northeast of Chuchi, adjoins the eastern boundary of NorthWest Copper Corp.'s Kwanika copper-gold deposit. In 2022, Pacific Ridge identified a surface geochemical target, the NEX zone, which is of similar size and orientation as the Kwanika Central Zone footprint on the neighboring property.
The company is planning an induced polarization survey at Redton this year to help further refine future drill targets.
Combined, Pacific Ridge believes its portfolio offers compelling targets for future supplies of copper needed for the low-carbon energy transition.
"Pacific Ridge strongly believes that increased demand for copper, coupled with heightened political risk in Central and South America, will lead to more competition for copper-gold porphyry projects located in Tier 1 jurisdictions like B.C.," said Monaghan. "Companies that own or control these projects will become increasingly prized."
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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