The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
North of 60 Mining News - November 1, 2024
A drill defines high-grade VMS mineralization under a band of green Northern Lights at Palmer.
This year's drilling included three holes to test North Wall, a potential fault-offset extension of the South Wall zones.
American Pacific and Dowa Metals & Mining drilled 16 holes in and around the main Palmer deposit this year.
American Pacific Mining Corp. Oct. 31 reported the first batch of assays from a 15-hole drill program carried out this year to upgrade and expand the high-grade copper and zinc mineralization at its Palmer project in Southeast Alaska.
Lying at the north end of the Southeast Alaska Panhandle, 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.
This resource does not include the results from the drilling completed at Palmer since 2018, including a 2023 program that cut four of the most significant copper intercepts ever encountered at this high-grade volcanogenic massive sulfide project in Southeast Alaska.
Highlights from the 2023 drill program include:
• 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.
The 2024 program, carried out under a joint venture between American Pacific (32%) and Dowa Metals & Mining Company Ltd. (68%), focused on building upon the success of the 2023 drilling.
American Pacific and Dowa Metals & Mining drilled 16 holes in and around the main Palmer deposit this year.
Highlights from the initial batch of assay results from the 2024 drilling include:
• 2.9 meters averaging 3.5% copper, 0.68% zinc, and 0.3 g/t silver in hole CMR24-192.
• 3.5 meters averaging 0.1% copper, 1.7% zinc, 0.86 g/t gold, and 92.4 g/t silver in hole CMR24-193.
• 16.4 meters averaging 0.8% copper, 8.4% zinc, 0.72 g/t gold, and 77.5 g/t silver in hole CMR24-194.
"This year's drill program was successful in following up on last year's high-grade results, while better defining the known mineralization on the property, ahead of the updated mineral resource estimate and technical report budgeted to begin this year," said American Pacific Mining Senior Vice President of Advanced Projects Peter Mercer.
This year's drilling included three holes to test North Wall, a potential fault-offset extension of the South Wall zones.
American Pacific and Dowa originally planned to drill 14 holes, primarily targeting the South Wall Zone 1 and Zone 2. Based on positive visual observations and real-time modeling updates, however, the partners expanded the program to 16 new holes, plus three holes that were recollared. This includes three exploration holes to test the North Wall Target, a potential fault offset extension of the South Wall mineralization.
South Wall, RW, and North Wall are located along less than a half-mile (one kilometer) section of a VMS mineralized horizon that extends more than four miles (6.5 kilometers) across that Palmer property.
"The Palmer project is located within a prolific mineral belt in Southeast Alaska," said Mercer. "The Palmer and AG deposits are just two of the mineralized areas defined and drill tested to date, on the property that has district-scale potential."
CORRECTION: This article was updated on Nov. 1, 2024 to correct American Pacific's name in the sub-headline.
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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