Constantine drills 6.9 metres of 7.08% zinc, 2.1% copper at Palmer, Alaska
Constantine Metal Resources Ltd. [CEM-TSXV; CNSNF-OTCQX] provided a summary of the summer field activities and available assay results from its 2021 drill program at the Palmer joint venture project, Alaska. Palmer is a joint venture between Constantine (about 46.6%) and Dowa Metals & Mining Co. Ltd. (about 53.4%) with Constantine as operator.
Two diamond drill rigs were mobilized to the Palmer property in early June to complete up to 6,000 metres of drilling directed toward infill drilling the down-dip inferred South Wall copper-zinc-silver-gold resource, exploration drilling to explore for the fault offset of the thick South Wall deposit, and geotechnical and environmental drilling to support the planned underground exploration program and provide information required to advance the project to feasibility.
Drill contractor staffing issues and low drill productivity caused the company to refocus the planned multipurpose drilling program to ensure that the geotechnical and environmental aspects of the drill program were completed. A total of eight diamond drill holes for a total of 2,917 metres were drilled.
Two drill holes (1,230 metres) were completed on the lower South Wall zone as resource infill and hydrological information holes. The South Wall zone includes an Indicated Mineral Resource of 4.68 million tonnes grading 5.23% zinc, 1.49% copper, 30.0 g/t silver and 0.30 g/t gold and an Inferred Mineral Resource of 5.34 million tonnes grading 5.20% zinc, 0.96% copper, 29.2 g/t silver and 0.28 g/t gold.
Drill hole CMR21-143B tested the lower part of the South Wall inferred mineral resource and intersected the mineralized horizon between 451.2 and 511.7 metres downhole with zones of semi-massive to massive sulphides and barite intervals. Hole CMR21-143B returned 36.9 metres of 2.16% zinc, 0.16%% copper, 16.68 g/t silver and 0.09 g/t gold as well as 6.9 metres of 7.08% zinc, 2.10% copper, 40.57 g/t silver and 0.42 g/t gold, including 3.7 metres of 10.71% zinc, 2.81% copper, 56.11 g/t silver and 0.62 g/t gold.
CMR21-144, the second infill drill hole, intersected chert and footwall stringer mineralization in close proximity to the Kudo fault. Assay results are pending. True width is estimated to be 75-80% of reported width.
The fieldwork has been completed for the season and the drilling equipment has been demobilized. Environmental monitoring and data collection will continue through the fall and winter season.
Dowa Metals & Mining financed the 2021 work program with an approved budget of US$8.8-million which will result in some dilution of Constantine’s interest in the project.
A program of surface resource upgrade drilling and exploration drilling at the Palmer deposit (South Wall/RW zones) and the AG deposit is being considered while the underground preparation work and underground development work takes place from 2022 through 2024. The additional surface and underground geological, geotechnical and hydrological information for the period 2022 through 2024 will provide the necessary data for permitting and feasibility-level studies that determine future project development.
Palmer is a high-grade volcanogenic massive sulphide/sulphate (VMS) project located in coastal southeast Alaska with road access and within 60 km of the year-round deep-sea port of Haines.
In September, 2019, Constantine successfully spun out its gold assets into HighGold Mining Inc. [HIGH-TSXV] that included the high-grade Johnson project in south-central Alaska and the Munro-Croesus gold property, renowned for its high-grade mineralization in the Timmins area, Ontario.