Zone Expanded Over 300m Along Strike With New Gold-Silver Intersections
Benchmark Metals Inc. (TSXV: BNCH) (OTCQX: BNCHF) has obtained positive new results from an initial series of drill holes at the Connector Zone that have successfully delineated near-surface continuity of gold and silver mineralisation between the Cliff Creek Deposit and the Dukes Ridge Deposit at the Lawyers Project in British Columbia.
This new zone is located outside of and marginal to the existing resource, extending over ~300 metres strike-length ~130 metres vertical depth.
The Connector Zone remains open to depth and across strike with multiple zones and will be subject to additional expansion drilling. The discovery of new broad mineralisation and high-grade material at surface has the potential to increase gold-silver ounces in an updated mineral resource estimate and provide the potential for a higher-grade starter pit in near-term engineering studies.
New results from surface include:
- 41.15m length of 1.31 grams per tonne (g/t) gold and 30.77 g/t silver or 1.69 g/t gold equivalent (AuEq) in drill hole 21CCRC016 , and;
- 10.67m of 3.45 g/t gold and 181.81 g/t silver or 5.72 g/t AuEq in drill hole 21DRRC005.
Deeper intercepts demonstrate continuity of these broad zones of mineralisation with high-grade material increasing at depth, this includes 53.34 m core length of 0.55 g/t gold and 55.61 g/t silver or 1.24 g/t AuEq with 1.52 m of 8.03 g/t gold and 1,220.00 g/t silver or 23.28 g/t AuEq in drill hole 21CCRC014.
CEO, John Williamson, said these significant new results also show the potential for new broad zones of mineralisation linking the north end of the Connector Zone with the eastern margins of Cliff Creek North as seen in drill hole 21CCRC018 with 25.91 m of 2.40 g/t Au and 47.99 g/t silver or 3.00 g/t AuEq including 9.14 m of 5.66 g/t gold and 110.33 g/t silver or 7.04 g/t AuEq).
Mr Williamson said the discovery of broad mineralisation from surface within the connector zone generates flexibility and potential for higher-grade starter pits and provides significant rewards to potential future mine production schedules.
The east and west margins of the Connector Zone were previously modelled as waste in the resource model (see news release May 14, 2021) and now show potential to both expand the pit shells and host more material above the Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) lower cut-off grades.
The initial 2021 drill results have provided a positive need to update the on-going MRE’s and shells for input into the Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA), delaying previous completion estimates. Engineering work to support feasibility will continue based on initial internal design.
The new results at the Connector Zone and pending results at the AGB Deposit and Cliff Creek Deposit have significant potential to optimize mine design to positively impact the project economics. Benchmark’s flagship Lawyers Gold-Silver Project is located within a road accessible region of the prolific Golden Horseshoe area of north-central British Columbia, Canada.
“The new results are defining strong continuity of mineralisation between two deposits and demonstrate potential to link the Cliff Creek and Dukes Ridge deposits with significant gold-silver at surface,” Mr Williamson said.
“In addition, the AGB deposit is displaying significant expansion with visuals from the core providing significant mineralisation to the south and at depth, outside of the pit constrained resource. The Connector Zone remains open and current drilling has the potential to expand all deposit areas and upgrade more gold-silver ounces to the Measured + Indicated category.”
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