North of 60 Mining News - The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North

Enduro Metals Corp. Oct. 18 announced the discovery of a new porphyry copper-gold system at Burgundy Ridge on the company's 654-square-kilometer (253 square miles) Newmont Lake project in British Columbia's Golden Triangle.

Several shallow holes completed during a first-pass drill program at Burgundy Ridge during 2019 cut mineralization, including one hole that cut 91 meters averaging 0.38% copper and 0.3 grams per metric ton gold from a depth of 36 meters.

Following up on the 2019 drilling and trenching, Enduro's first hole of the 2021 season, BR21-001, cut 331.4 meters averaging 0.29% copper, 0.35 g/t gold, 0.49% zinc, and 5.5 g/t silver from a depth of 5.5 meters. This includes 18.3 meters averaging 1.05 g/t gold, 1.33% copper, 2.91% zinc, and 21.6 g/t silver from a depth of 5.5 meters.

Enduro says this hole confirms a new copper-gold porphyry discovery at Burgundy, a 2,700- by 600-meter system centered between Seabridge Gold Corp.'s KSM porphyry camp to the southeast, and Teck Resources Ltd. and Newmont Corp.'s Galore Creek porphyry camp to the northwest.

"This discovery drill hole at Burgundy is a pivotal moment for Enduro and the Newmont Lake project's development, confirming the occurrence of a significant alkalic copper-gold porphyry deposit. This is a true grassroots discovery, and we are at the very beginning of the process," said Enduro Metals President and CEO Cole Evans. "What I find exciting is the transitioning alteration of calc-sodic to calcic and calc-potassic assemblages and also minor amounts of zinc suggesting Burgundy Ridge is on the fringes of a large system, and we likely have not tested the best portions of the porphyry. The combination of grade, size, and accessible location of the discovery makes Burgundy a top-tier copper-gold exploration target, sandwiched between two world-class porphyry camps at Galore Creek and KSM."

Burgundy is one of four major mineralized systems identified so far at Newmont Lake. The other three are McLymont Fault, Cuba, and the never before drilled Chachi Corridor.

In July, Enduro launched a planned 10,000-meter program that was expected to include drilling at all four mineralized zones. Earlier than expected winter weather, however, brought a close to the summer and fall exploration drilling.

In addition to further holes testing Burgundy, the drilling completed before the earlier than normal snow and freezing conditions targeted McLymont Fault and the Chachi Corridor. The turnaround time from assay labs, however, has been slow again this year.

Enduro says major changes to the sample preparation lab have decreased wait times substantially, but delays still exist at the analytical lab due to high activity and supply chain issues of consumables.

While snows cut short the 2021 season at Newmont Lake, crews are preparing to build a winter road that will connect Enduro's exploration camp, along with the Burgundy and McLymont Fault zones, to the BC highway system for about three months.

Enduro Metals Corp.

This will allow Enduro to stockpile drilling equipment, timber, consumable materials, and fuel months ahead of previous exploration programs and at a fraction of the cost of helicopter transport. It also offers the option to mobilize larger mining equipment, as well as transporting stockpiled bulk sample material in the event the company elects to complete a 10,000-metric ton bulk sample program on one of its high-grade surface targets.

Furthering its preparations for an earlier start to 2022 exploration, the company is also designing and building a new water supply system with particulate centrifuges that can deliver fresh water to multiple drill rigs from over 3,000 meters away. This would provide the water for 2022 drilling much earlier than waiting for optimal weather conditions.

Author Bio

Shane Lasley, Publisher

Over his more than 16 years of covering mining and mineral exploration, Shane has become renowned for his ability to report on the sector in a way that is technically sound enough to inform industry insiders while being easy to understand by a wider audience.

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