Benchmark targets satellite gold-silver deposits at Lawyers Project, B.C.
Benchmark Metals Inc. [BNCH-TSXV; CYRTF-OTCQB; 87CA-FSE] said Thursday June 17 that it has launched a property-wide exploration program at its Lawyers Gold and Silver Project in northern British Columbia that is expected to consist of at least 100,000 metres of drilling.
Together with the scope and scale of this year’s program, the company said it anticipates that its methodology could discovery significant gold-silver ounces in satellite deposits across the 145 km2 land package.
“Benchmark well exceeded expectations with its current mineral resources estimate and sees near term potential for the upcoming drill program to deliver significant gold-silver ounces at Lawyers in terms of both quantity and quality,” said Benchmark CEO John Williamson.
“Our exploration strategy dovetails exceptionally well with resource definition drilling as we continue to generate new drill targets,” he said.
Benchmark shares were almost unchanged on the news, falling 0.89% or $0.01 to $1.11 on volume of 181,130. The shares trade in a 52-week range of $1.64 and 36 cents.
Benchmark is a mineral exploration company with a focus on developing the substantial resource potential of the Lawyers’s Gold and Silver Project in the prolific Golden Horseshoe area of northern B.C.
The company has said it planned to complete a fully funded drill program, at a cost of up to $30 million this year, to move the project towards the feasibility study stage. That includes drilling on six targets including the Marot zone, which yielded 101.00 metres core length of 0.82 g/t gold equivalent in drill hole 20MLDD005.
The Lawyers property is located in the Toodoggone region of the Omineca Mining Division of B.C. and encompass the Lawyers group of prospects, including the former Lawyers underground gold-silver mine and the Silver Pond group of prospects, and includes over 16 gold-silver mineral occurrences.
The property is situated 45 km northwest of Centerra Gold Inc.’s [CG-TSX; CAGDF-OTC] Kemess Copper-Gold mine, where underground development and construction is under way.
Exploration in the area began in the late 1960s and peaked in the 1980s, identifying numerous showings, prospects and deposits culminating in the development of the Lawyers gold-silver mine. It operated between 1989 and 1992, producing 171,200 ounces of gold and 3.6 million ounces of silver.
However, the deposit was never fully mined, and the surrounding area was never thoroughly explored for gold-silver mineralization. An estimated $50 million in infrastructure remains in place, including year-round road access.
Five underground developments remain in place, in addition to historical resources and new targets.
The 2021 exploration program is expected to include 50,000 metres of exploratory diamond drilling, including Marmot, Marmot East, Lala, Silver Pond, Guildfords Edge and a number of new targets.