Newcrest Mining Ltd. July 23 said COVID-19 has not affected the production of copper and gold at its Red Chris mine in northwestern British Columbia.

During the second quarter 2020, Red Chris produced 8,401 metric tons (18.5 million pounds) of copper, which is an 18% increase over the 7,128 metric tons (15.7 million lb) produced during the first quarter; and 15,440 ounces of gold, which is a 27% rise over the 12,199 oz produced during the previous quarter.

Newcrest attributes the upsurge in metals production at Red Chris to increased mill throughput.

During the quarter, a number of improvement initiatives were implemented to improve efficiencies across the site, including the optimization of haul road conditions and dumping locations to reduce truck cycle times and the introduction of "just in time fueling" to increase operating time.

To date, Red Chris has not experienced any COVID-19 related disruptions to the supply of goods or services or to its workforce.

While Newcrest is happy with increased gold and copper production, the Australia-based miner is even more excited about the continued success of drilling a pod of high-grade mineralization first tapped by Imperial Metals Corp., its joint venture partner at Red Chris, during 2009.

The hole drilled by Imperial, RC09-350, cut 432.5 meters of 2% copper and 3.8 grams per metric ton gold.

"These grades are amongst the most impressive seen in recent history and we are very excited about the potential to bring these ounces into production as soon as possible," Newcrest Mining Managing Director and CEO Sandeep Biswas said earlier this year.

Drilling completed by Newcrest this year has continued to cut long sections of higher grade mineralization in the East Zone, where the pod is located.

Highlights from previously reported 2020 drilling at Red Chris include:

• 188 meters averaging 0.52 g/t gold and 0.54% copper from a depth of 570 meters in hole RC600.

• 386 meters of 0.43 g/t gold and 0.46% copper from 458 meters in RC602.

• 276 meters of 3.3 g/t gold and 1.7% copper from 684 meters in RC611, which includes 150 meters of 5.6 g/t gold and 2.5% copper from 688 meters.

• 514 meters of 0.81 g/t gold and 0.57% copper from 660 meters in RC616, including 104 meters of 2.7 g/t gold and 1.7% copper.

The latest batch of results from Red Chris include:

• 532 meters averaging 1.3 g/t gold and 0.82% copper from a depth of 534 meters in hole RC623, including 184 meters of 3.2 g/t gold and 1.8% copper.

• 400 meters of 0.65 g/t gold and 0.51% copper from a depth of 640 meters in RC625, including 76 meters of 1.9 g/t gold and 1.2% copper.

Newcrest said the intercept in hole RC625 has confirmed the presence of a second high-grade pod at Red Chris.

A total of 20,433 meters of drilling was completed at Red Chris during the second quarter of this year, contributing to a total of 49,816 meters of drilling since Newcrest acquired 70% joint venture interest in Red Chris last August.

In addition to the work at Red Chris, Newcrest has been working on generating drill targets at GJ, a copper-gold property the company acquired from Skeena Resources Ltd. earlier this year.

The main deposit at GJ, Donnelly, host 215.2 million metric tons of indicated resource averaging 0.26% (1.24 billion lb) copper, 0.31 g/t (2.14 million oz) gold and 1.9 g/t (13 million oz) silver; plus 28.3 million metric tons of inferred resource grading 0.14% (85.1 million lb) copper, 0.31 g/t (280,000 oz) gold and 1.8 g/t (1.6 million oz) silver.

Situated along the western boundary of Red Chris, the 967-square-kilometer (373 square miles) covers the south west extent of the Red Chris GJ-Donnelly porphyry trend.

Newcrest Mining Ltd.

An initial program of 2,146 line-kilometers of airborne electromagnetic and gravity surveys are being carried out over the porphyry trend.

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