CopperBank Resources Corp. June 28 announced plans for expanding the summer drill program at its Pyramid copper-gold-molybdenum project on the Alaska Peninsula.

This augmented program includes the addition of a second drill rig, which will allow the company to increase the drilling beyond the 1,500 meters originally planned.

Pyramid hosts 122 million metric tons of inferred resource averaging 0.41 percent copper, 0.1 grams per metric ton gold and 0.021 percent molybdenum.

While completed by a reputable engineering firm in 2013, CopperBank is not treating this historical estimate as current mineral resources.

The primary objective of this year's drilling is to expand this resource area at Pyramid in advance of infill drilling planned for 2018.

Expansion of high-grade resources around hole PY11-16, which cut 155 meters of 0.71 percent copper, 0.18 g/t gold and 0.018 percent molybdenum, is the primary target area for this year's drilling.

The bottom 34 meters of this hole returned 0.844 percent copper, indicating the depth extension of this deposit.

CopperBank said the drilling in this area is not sufficient to determine the true width of this mineralized zone and the additional drilling planned for this area Main zone will contribute to a better understanding the higher grade potential there.

It is anticipated that drill holes REC-001, P-004 and P-007 will achieve a better.

The North zone will also be tested to verify the lateral extensions of known mineralization - particularly around hole 11PY007, which cut 104 meters averaging 0.56 percent copper and 0.13 g/t gold from a depth of six meters.

"Having two drill rigs on site will enable our team to have a dedicated machine to each of the Main and North zones," CopperBank Executive Chairman Gianni Kovacevic. "Our plan is to finance enough drilling to ensure the important holes in each zone are completed, then our team can assess results to determine where future meters should be focused."

CopperBank plans to raise US$500,000 to help pay for the expanded program.

-SHANE LASLEY