Benchmark sees 5 million oz gold at B.C. project
Benchmark Metals Lawyers core
Benchmark Metals Inc. [BNCH-TSXV, CYRTF-OTCQB, 87CA-FSE] said it is proceeding with a flow-through shares offering that is expected to raise $2 million to fund exploration at the company’s Lawyers property in northwest British Columbia.
The proposed non-brokered private placement consists of about 9.0 million flow-through shares at an offering price of 22 cents per share. The net proceeds will be used to incur qualifying Canadian exploration expenses on the Lawyers gold and silver project which is located in the eastern part of B.C.’s Golden Triangle region.
Benchmark shares were active on the news, rising 12.50% or $0.03 to 27 cents on volume of 1.5 million. The shares trade in a 52-week range of 15.5 cents and 39 cents. Benchmark said it will renounce the qualifying expenses to the subscribers. Each subscriber will be entitled to their pro rata share of the qualifying expenses renounced, a 15% federal tax credit, and, if a B.C. resident, at least a 20% B.C. mining flow-through tax credit, less any government assistance.
The Lawyers property is located in the Toodoggone region of the Omineca Mining Division of B.C. and consists of 37 contiguous mineral claims. The claims cover 9,680 hectares (99 km2) of land that encompasses 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 also 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 that operated from 1989 to 1992, producing 171,000 ounces of gold and 3.6 million ounces of silver.
Five underground developments remain in place, in addition to historical resources and new targets.
Benchmark said the Lawyers Project is exhibiting geological similarities to world-class, low sulphidation, epithermal gold-silver mines located in the Patagonia region of Argentina. “Lawyers, Cerro Negro, and the Cerro Vanguardia gold-silver mines are all epithermal precious metal deposits hosted in Jurassic felsic volcanics,” Benchmark said.
The company recently announced a proposed 2019 exploration program at Lawyers. It said the drilling will focus on infill, step-out and deeper drilling to expand the current resources at [the] Cliff Creek and Dukes Ridge [zones] and establish new resources at the Phoenix and AGB zones.
The program is expected to include 14,000 to 25,000 metres of drilling, 2,000 to 3,500 soil samples, 600 to 1,000 rock samples, mapping and ground geophysics.
“After a thorough review of 2018 drilling and historical results that included infill sampling of previous drilling campaigns, we believe the Lawyers Trend has potential for near 5 million gold equivalent ounces,” said Benchmark CEO John Williamson. “The 2018 program expanded the Cliff Creek Zone to over 550 metres in the Dukes Ridge Zone to over 700 metre strike lengths, and mineralization remains open in all directions,” he said. “In addition, we have generated over six new large targets for drill testing.”
This year, Williamson said the company expects to generate similar results to the 2018 drill program and public new mineral resource estimates.