Canterra Minerals updates summer exploration, central Newfoundland Mining District
Canterra Minerals Corp. [TSXV-CTM; OTCQB-CTMCF] reported the start of summer field programs on its volcanic massive sulphide (VMS) projects within the central Newfoundland Mining District. These programs are designed to identify and evaluate exploration targets across the company’s highly prospective project portfolio that include multiple base metal deposits in the district, with a drill program expected to begin later this summer.
Highlights: Planned 2,000 metres of drilling program at Buchans to explore for new discoveries of Buchans style classic high-grade massive sulfide mineralization.
Drilling will also be focused in and around the Lundberg deposit (the existing deposit within the brownfields of Buchans) to further expand and enhance this large open-pit resource by extending known mineralization and exploring for additional higher-grade mineralization nearby that may complement Lundberg’s development; this initiative is motivated by an improved outlook for critical base metal prices, particularly copper, a significant component of the Lundberg deposit.
Geological investigations to include review and sampling of archived drill core from multiple deposits containing historical resource estimates; deposits to be evaluated include Lemarchant, Long Lake, Boomerang, Tulks Hill, Daniels Pond and Bobbys Pond.
Summer programs will build on previously announced recent results including targets identified at Lemarchant and gravity surveys at the Long Lake and Tulks East projects.
Strategic goals include increased consideration of projects and deposits with potential for enhancement or discovery of resources with higher copper grades and metal inventory and include follow-up work on Canterra’s recently announced high-grade copper samples from the Victoria Project. Canterra is fully funded for this summer’s exploration, including drilling at Buchans
Field reviews will be undertaken in conjunction with the company’s ongoing data compilation and include technical contributions from qualified consultants including geophysical, resource modelling and exploration targeting. Among consultants that have been engaged in this initiative are Mercator Geological Services and Alan King, P.Geo.
In addition, the company intends to further engage members of its Technical Advisory Committee, including renowned VMS geological experts Dr. Rodney Allen and Dr. Stephen Piercey as part of its target evaluation process.
Canterra’s Buchans Property is a brownfields project that encompasses 82.5 km2 near the town of Buchans. The property hosts the past-producing Buchans mine operated by Asarco between 1928 and 1984 and is underlain by volcano-sedimentary rocks of the Buchans Group. The property also hosts the undeveloped Lundberg deposit, a VMS stockwork deposit that comprises a large, near-surface resource located immediately beneath workings of the previously mined, high-grade Lucky Strike massive sulphide orebody.
At Lucky Strike, Asarco mined 5.6 million tonnes of high-grade ore averaging 18.4% Zn, 8.6% Pb, 1.6% Cu, 112 g/t Ag & 1.7 g/t Au, essentially pre-stripping a large portion of the Lundberg resource. The total ore mined over the life of the historic Buchans mine is reported to have comprised 16.2 million tonnes at an average grade of 14.5% Zn, 7.6% Pb, 1.3% Cu, 1.37 g/t Au & 126 g/t Ag.
Lundberg’s resource estimate was compiled in 2019 and includes In-pit Indicated Mineral Resources totaling 16,790,000 tonnes grading of 0.42% Cu, 1.53% Zn, 0.64% Pb, 5.69 g/t Ag and 0.07 g/t Au (containing 156 million pounds Cu, 566 million pounds Zn, 237 million pounds Pb, 3.1 million ounces Ag, and 37,000 ounces Au) as well as In-pit Inferred Mineral Resources totaling 380,000 tonnes at a grade of 0.36% Cu, 2.03% Zn, 1.01% Pb, 22.35 g/t Ag and 0.31 g/t Au (containing 3.0 million pounds Cu, 17 million pounds Zn, 9 million pounds Pb, 270,000 ounces Ag, and 38,000 ounces Au).
South of Beothuk Lake and the Buchans project are several volcano-sedimentary belts comprising the Victoria Lake Supergroup that are host to six additional VMS deposits held 100% by Canterra. The Victoria Lake Supergroup also hosts the past producing Duck Pond mine where Teck Resources is reported to have mined 5.0Mt of ore averaging 2.7% Cu, 4.4% Zn, 53g/t Ag, and 0.6 g/t Au between 2007 and 2015. The Victoria Lake Supergroup is flanked on its southeastern margin by orogenic gold systems that include Calibre’s Valentine mine and Canterra’s Wilding and Noel-Paul gold exploration projects. Results from Canterra’s recent exploration also highlight the gold-rich nature of some deposits within its Victoria Lake Supergroup projects, including Lemarchant where Canterra drilled 28 m of 1.19 g/t Au, 67.9 g/t Ag, 0.48% Cu, 5.42% Zn and 1.33% Pb.
Canterra Minerals is a diversified minerals exploration company with a focus on critical minerals in central Newfoundland. Canterra’s projects include six mineral deposits located in close proximity to the past producing Buchans mine and Teck Resources’ former past-producing Duck Pond mine that produced copper, zinc, lead, silver and gold.
Several of Canterra’s deposits support historical Mineral Resource Estimates prepared in accordance with NI 43-101. All of Canterra’s Historical Resource Estimates are deemed historical as they were prepared prior to their acquisition by Canterra. Canterra is not treating its historical resource estimates as current mineral resources.
Canterra also holds exploration-stage gold properties that cover 70 km of strike of the regional gold-bearing Rogerson Lake structural corridor that hosts Calibre Mining’s development stage Valentine Gold Mine. Canterra’s Newfoundland gold projects have been subject to four drilling campaigns, demonstrating many gold occurrences warranting further exploration.