The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
North of 60 Mining News - October 23, 2024
A drill expands resources during the 2019 drill program at Lawyers.
An aerial view of the main resource area at Lawyers with the mine infrastructure outlined in a PEA published in September.
Cross-section showing results for holes 24CCDD001 and 24CCDD003 in comparison to 2024 mineral resource domains in the Cliff Creek deposit and outline of the open pit mine design included in the 2024 preliminary economic assessment.
Thesis Gold Corp. Oct. 23 reported that its 2024 drilling at Lawyers cut high-grade gold mineralization that will likely upgrade and expand resources to be incorporated into a prefeasibility study for a mine at its Lawyers-Ranch gold-silver project in Northern British Columbia's Toodoggone Mining District.
"These latest drill results are extremely encouraging, as they both continue to validate the high-grade potential near surface and confirm continuity of mineralization at depth," said Thesis Gold President and CEO Ewan Webster.
In September, the company released the results of a preliminary economic assessment (PEA) that outlined plans for a mining operation at Lawyers-Ranch that would produce 2.32 million oz of gold and 56.4 million oz of silver, or 4 million oz gold-equivalent over 14 years.
The PEA envisions a 12,600-metric-ton-per-day operation located on Lawyers that would process ore from four pits on the property and several small pits at Ranch, which lies immediately to the north.
At the same time, underground mining at the Duke's Ridge and Cliff Creek deposits on the Lawyers property would begin delivering ore to the mill during the second year of operation.
At $2,500/oz gold and $30/oz silver, both lower than current prices, the after-tax NPV jumps to C$2.25 billion ($1.67 billion), the IRR comes in at 52.8%, and the payback period drops to 1.3 years.
This PEA is based on 82 million metric tons of measured and indicated resources averaging 1.11 grams per metric ton (2.92 million ounces) gold and 31.9 g/t (84 million oz silver), or 4 million oz gold-equivalent on the adjacent Lawyer and Ranch properties.
An aerial view of the main resource area at Lawyers with the mine infrastructure outlined in a PEA published in September.
A 9,510-meter drill program carried out this year focused on collecting data for engineering, as well as expanding and upgrading the resource and exploration.
This included 4,100 meters of drilling targeting the upgrade and expansion of open-pit and underground resources within the connected Cliff Creek and Dukes Ridge deposits at Lawyers.
Highlights from the near-surface drill intercepts at Lawyers include:
• 22.6 meters averaging 1.16 g/t gold and 47.1 g/t silver (1.75 g/t gold-equivalent) in hole 24CCDD001, including seven meters averaging 3.17 g/t gold and 123.5 g/t silver (4.72 g/t gold-equivalent).
• Eight meters averaging 7.29 g/t gold and 327.8 g/t silver (11.39 g/t gold-equivalent) in hole 24CCDD003, including two meters averaging 16.23 g/t gold and 886 g/t silver (27.05 g/t gold-equivalent).
Highlights from the deeper drill intercepts at Lawyers include:
• Six meters averaging 0.69 g/t gold and 224.2 g/t silver (3.49 g/t gold-equivalent) in hole 24CCDD001, including two meters averaging 0.58 g/t gold and 448 g/t silver (6.18 g/t gold-equivalent).
• 4.89 meters averaging 3.82 g/t gold and 119.8 g/t silver (5.31 g/t gold-equivalent) in hole 24CCDD005, including 0.39 meters averaging 19.3 g/t gold and 791 g/t silver (29.19 g/t gold-equivalent).
• 10.15 meters averaging 0.9 g/t gold and 25 g/t silver (1.21 g/t gold-equivalent) in hole 24CCDD006, including two meters averaging 4.56 g/t gold and 141 g/t silver (6.32 g/t gold-equivalent).
Cross-section showing results for holes 24CCDD001 and 24CCDD003 in comparison to 2024 mineral resource domains in the Cliff Creek deposit and outline of the open pit mine design included in the 2024 preliminary economic assessment.
"The shallow, high-grade gold and silver intercepts provide an excellent opportunity to enhance the open-pit scenario, while the deeper intervals align well with the underground stopes outlined in the PEA," said Webster. "With silver prices trending upwards, the substantial silver content in these intercepts provides a meaningful tailwind to the project's economics, complementing the already projected 4 million-plus ounces of average annual silver production outlined in the PEA."
Assays remain pending from the 5,410 meters of drilling on the adjacent Ranch property.
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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