The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
North of 60 Mining News - March 25, 2024
American Pacific and Dowa Metals & Mining will test high-grade copper zones within the resource and fault-offset extension targets during the 2024 drill program at the Palmer VMS project in Southeast Alaska.
American Pacific Mining Corp. March 25 outlined plans for a US$12.8 million resource expansion exploration program this year at the high-grade Palmer volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS) project in Southeast Alaska.
Being advanced under a joint venture between American Pacific and Dowa Metals & Mining Company Ltd., Palmer hosts 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 9.59 million metric tons of inferred resource averaging 4.95% (1.05 billion lb) zinc, 0.59% (124 million lb) copper, 69.3 g/t (21.4 million oz) silver, and 0.39 g/t (120,600 oz) gold.
All the indicated resources and just over half of the inferred resources are located in the main Palmer deposit, which is comprised of the RW and South Wall zones, with the balance of the inferred resource hosted in the nearby AG Zone.
The Palmer mineral resource, however, was last calculated in 2018 and does not include results from subsequent drilling, including a highly successful program in 2023.
Highlights from the 2023 drilling 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.
• 37.1 meters averaging 4.57% copper, 8.44% zinc, 0.5 g/t gold, and 29.3 g/t silver in hole CMR23-167.
• 33.2 meters averaging 5.48% copper, 7.22% zinc, 0.64 g/t gold, and 36.8 g/t silver in hole CMR23-169.
• 23.9 meters averaging 9.03% copper, 3.49% zinc, 0.83 g/t gold, and 41.8 g/t silver in hole CMR23-171.
• 43.8 meters averaging 6.54% copper, 3.15% zinc, 0.42 g/t gold, and 28 g/t silver in hole CMR23-172.
"Last year's drilling has extended the mineralized envelope beyond the current MRE (mineral resource estimate) and our team is updating our 3D geological model," American Pacific Mining Vice President of Advanced Projects Peter Mercer said in January.
The success of last year's drilling, which included four of the best copper intercepts ever drilled at Palmer, highlights the potential to expand upon copper-rich zones within the known mineral resource envelope.
The year's US$12.8 million program has been designed to continue expanding the zones where the highest-grade copper mineralization was encountered last year – South Wall 1 and 2.
"During the 2023 resource definition program, our team discovered thick copper mineralization within the known mineral resource envelope," said American Pacific Mining CEO Warwick Smith. "In 2024, we will look to leverage and build upon last year's high-grade results while aiming at expansion through step-out and extensional drilling along the high-grade trends in addition to discovery-focused drilling at the adjacent North Wall Target."
North Wall, which lies north of South Wall Zone 1, represents a potential fault offset extension of mineralization.
An alteration zone at the North Wall Target has strong geological and geochemical similarities to South Wall but has seen limited drill testing along a 500-meter mapped strike length. Historical surface mapping has identified in-situ copper-zinc-barite mineralization leading the way to the potential of a South Wall Zone extension.
"The North Wall alteration zone represents an outstanding and untested, near-surface target with very limited historical drilling," said Smith.
The 2024 drilling campaign will be operated by American Pacific subsidiary Constantine North Inc. The approximately US$750,000 in fees for managing the program will serve as American Pacific's contribution to the program. Dowa Metals & Mining has committed to funding the roughly US$12 million balance to carry out this year's work at Palmer.
"We look forward to another productive year with our joint venture partner with plans to update the mineral resource estimate by year-end," the American Pacific CEO 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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