Durango Resources’ AI-Powered exploration study identifies new drill targets at Babine West copper-gold project, British Columbia
Durango Resources Inc. [TSXV: DGO; OTCQB: ATOXF; FSE: 86A1] reported that its artificial intelligence (AI) powered property exploration study has completed computation in the first of three prospective study areas of the 100%-owned Babine West copper-gold exploration project located in the Babine Porphyry District north of Smithers, northern British Columbia.
Upon the completion of this work, it is the consensus findings of the software, exploration partners, and technical exploration team that the Babine West property contains mineralized geological features possibly related to a nearby buried intrusion.
To come to this hypothesis, the company reconciled all available data of the region including from publicly available information regarding the nearby NAK (American Eagle) and Duke (Amarc) copper gold porphyry discoveries, historical work and mapping, and raw government airborne geophysical data.
Upon interpretation, the company’s technical team and partners then submitted these inputs to ExploreTech’s AI exploration software, generating and evaluating thousands of possible deposit scenarios (if they should exist) for the property.
Upon completion of this process, the AI software has suggested that a large sub-horizontal structure potentially crosscuts a significant area of the eastern claim block of the Babine West claims from the southeast to northwest. This structure coincides with a moderate magnetic anomaly that has been overlooked in the regional magnetics data until now.
The moderate magnetism is hypothesized to be a widespread zone of early-stage alteration, causing elevated magnetite occurrence. From all publicly known geological data of the area, the hypothesized mineralization may be related to the system at the adjacent NAK copper gold project, the Duke project, or intrusions that have yet to be identified. The structure appears to cover a large portion of the central and eastern side of the company’s Babine West block claims target area. Areas with relatively thick portions of the structure may be prospective for intrusion-driven mineralization, and the study indicates two such possible areas to test this hypothesis.
The Babine West property covers three mineral claims and is bordering the west side of American Eagle’s NAK property and borders Amarc Resources’ Duke Property.
American Eagle has encountered significant drill intervals of high-grade gold and copper mineralization at NAK. Notably, drill hole 23-17 returned 302 metres at 1.09% CuEq on the western portion of the property not far from the eastern border of Durango’s Babine West Property.
Amarc’s Duke Property covers 722 km2 in the “DUKE District”, which hosts the DUKE Deposit, which is open to expansion, and includes a series of deposit-scale exploration targets.
The ExploreTech AI Exploration Software and process was developed by Stanford University PhD graduates Alex Miltenberger and Tyler Hall. The ExploreTech founders completed their PhDs in Geophysics and Geology, respectively, and have also previously worked with majors such as Freeport McMoRan, Glencore, and Rio Tinto.
Their proprietary AI technology and process leverages government geophysical data, historical property information, and thousands of potential geological scenarios to pinpoint the highest-probability deposit locations and drill targets for a project, if deemed warranted. The technology is particularly effective in porphyry exploration, making it an ideal fit for the Babine West project, but is also effective for other deposit scenarios as well.
The company’s AI study now continues to the west side of the property, where several prospective anomalies are present. The company will report on the findings of this west area study as soon as it is completed in the coming days.
The company has also briefed ExploreTech on the company’s recent gallium, rubidium and other critical metals discovery on the NMX East property. The company intends to engage ExploreTech to help measure the dimensional potential of the discovery pegmatite leveraging this same AI software, as well as identify and map other potential pegmatite targets on the property given the success to date of working with ExploreTech on the Babine project.
It is anticipated this work will commence as soon as this first pilot AI exploration study has been completed at Babine West. Additionally, the company completed its budget for further assays of the NMX drill core, mineralogy evaluation, metallurgy, and further drilling, and intends to start these next step initiatives for the project as well as soon as possible.
Marcy Kiesman, CEO of Durango Resources, commented, “We’ve greatly enjoyed working with Alex and Tyler and piloting their proprietary, AI powered exploration software and process. It’s truly impressive the amount of data the system can process, interpret, and reveal using existing government and other regional data. Scaling our work with our new AI exploration partners saves us time, cost, and undue speculation, while revealing bankable drill ready targets in an efficient and thorough process.”
Durango’s holdings include a 100% interest in a strategically located group of properties in the Babine Copper-Gold Porphyry District, British Columbia, claims near the Troilus Gold Camp, claims in the Nemaska Camp known for lithium and high grade polymetallic nickel copper PGM, as well as claims in the Windfall Lake Gold Camp of Québec.