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

Benchmark Metals Inc. May 31 announced the signing of a new agreement with the Tahltan Central Government that establishes processes that allow the Tahltan First Nation to engage and benefit from Benchmark's exploration of the Lawyers gold-silver project in Northern British Columbia.

The roughly 96,000-square-kilometer (37,000 square miles) Tahltan Territory, which covers approximately 70% of the Golden Triangle region of northwestern BC, extends east to the north-central part of the province where Lawyers is located.

Tahltan Central Government, the governing body of the Tahltan Nation, has taken an increasingly active role in ensuring that exploring for, building, and operating mines in its homeland offers more benefits to the Tahltan people than potential risks to the cultural and environmental resources found there.

"It is imperative that exploration and mining companies wishing to operate within Tahltan Territory do so in a respectful manner, as they are guests in Tahltan Territory with provincial permits, most of which were not granted with Tahltan support or consent," Tahltan Central Government penned in a statement.

The agreement with Benchmark outlines collaborative processes that will allow for Tahltan Central Government's constructive engagement in Benchmark's exploration program at the Lawyers gold-silver project and ensures the Tahltan Nation can meaningfully participate in all aspects of the exploration program and the associated economic benefits.

Benchmark says the agreement is an important step toward developing a strong collaborative relationship with Tahltan Central Government and a key component towards social license as Lawyers moves toward mine permitting.

"Building a collaborative and meaningful relationship with TCG will enable continued success to advance the Lawyers Gold-Silver Project to a mining decision," said Benchmark Metals CEO John Williamson. "Benchmark is rapidly advancing its Project that continues to deliver near-term results and major milestones during 2022 and 2023."

The company says it will continue to engage and utilize First Nations talent for employment and consultancy work as it advances toward these milestones.

A calculation completed about a year ago outlines 40.3 million metric tons of indicated resource at Lawyers 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.

Nearly 100,000 meters of new drilling completed since that calculation will be incorporated into a new mineral resource, which will serve as the basis for a preliminary economic assessment that will outline initial plans for a mine at Lawyers slated for completion later this year. A feasibility study and initiation of the permitting process are expected in 2023.

Benchmark says this first collaboration agreement with Tahltan Central Government will serve as the basis of a larger agreement when the project advances closer to regulatory approvals for an operational mine.

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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