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

Benchmark Metals Inc. Nov. 8 reported that drilling has encountered additional near-surface, high-grade and bulk-tonnage gold-silver mineralization that could improve the economics of mining of the Cliff Creek deposit on the company's Lawyers project in Northern British Columbia.

According to a calculation published in May, the Cliff Creek, AGB, and Dukes Ridge deposits at Lawyers host 40.3 million metric tons of indicated resource averaging 1.19 grams per metric ton (1.55 million ounces) gold and 38.7 g/t (50.2 million oz) silver; plus 16.2 million metric tons of inferred resource averaging 1.19 g/t (620,000 oz) gold and 34.7 g/t (18.1 million oz) silver.

Much of the planned 100,000-meter-plus 2021 drill program at Lawyers focused on upgrading and expanding the resources that will form the basis of a preliminary economic assessment that provides a first look at plans to develop a mine on this property.

In October, Benchmark reported the discovery of a 300-meter-long Connector zone that links the Cliff Creek and Dukes Ridge deposits.

Highlights from 2021 drilling at Connector include 41.15 meters averaging 1.31 g/t gold and 30.77 g/t silver in hole 21CCRC016; and 10.67 meters averaging 3.45 g/t gold and 181.81 g/t silver in 21DRRC005.

The latest batch of results are from holes that cut strong gold-silver mineralization in an area on the east side of Cliff Creek Mid zone thought to be weakly to modestly mineralized based upon intermittently sampled historical drilling.

Highlights from drilling in this area between Cliff Creek North and South, and only about 250 meters west of Connector, include:

• 12.19 meters averaging 1.3 g/t gold and 37.8 g/t silver from a depth of 6.1 meters in hole 21CCRC007.

• 68.58 meters averaging 3.07 g/t gold and 11.72 g/t silver from a depth of 19.81 meters in hole 21CCRC020, including 3.05 meters averaging 56.65 g/t gold and 79.75 g/t silver.

• 10.67 meters averaging 0.96 g/t gold and 51.4 g/t silver from a depth of 24.38 meters in hole 21CCRC021.

Benchmark Metals Inc.

Benchmark says these results have the potential to add significant, higher-grade gold and silver ounces in an updated mineral resource estimate.

"The Cliff Creek Mid zone is now not only expanding at depth but also to the east with higher-grade gold and silver mineralization. The new gold-silver mineralization begins near-surface and was previously unrecognized in this area," said Benchmark Metals CEO John Williamson. "This type of near-surface higher-grade mineralization will have a positive impact on the preliminary economic analysis (PEA) by delivering early year's material in the production schedule. Benchmark has planned additional diamond drilling to focus on expanding this zone."

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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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