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

Benchmark Metals Inc. June 26 announced that it is mobilizing equipment and crews to carry out a 20,000-meter drill program focused on further evaluating and expanding the "Cliff Creek and Duke's Ridge deep" high-grade gold and silver zones on the company's Lawyers project in Northern British Columbia.

"Benchmark will have three drill rigs turning at the Lawyers Project this year and anticipates results from late July to December," said Benchmark Metals CEO John Williamson.

A preliminary economic assessment completed in August envisions ore from open-pit mines at three Lawyers deposits – AGB, Cliff Creek, and Dukes Ridge – feeding a centrally located mill that would produce 1.7 million ounces of gold and 26.7 million oz of silver over an initial 12 years of mining.

This PEA is based on 67.38 million metric tons of measured and indicated resources averaging 1.26 grams per metric ton (2.74 million oz) gold and 24.39 g/t (52.9 million oz) silver; plus 4.87 million metric tons of inferred resource averaging 2.39 g/t (378,000 oz) gold and 39.41 g/t (6.2 million oz) silver.

Optimization studies completed since the PEA was finalized indicate that underground mining could significantly improve the economics of the proposed operation at Lawyers.

"Trade-off studies have revealed substantial potential for underground mining in conjunction with surface operations to enhance overall economics, increase total ounces, and improve the production profile, particularly during the initial years of the operation," said Williamson.

Benchmark says machine learning and geochemistry models generated by Maptek show the potential for expansion of high-grade mineralized zones at Cliff Creek and Duke's Ridge that are controlled by major structures and remain open along strike and at depth.

This high-grade expansion potential is underscored by intercepts below the deposits:

• 4.82 meters averaging 11.58 g/t gold and 711.9 g/t silver in hole 20CCDD048 (Cliff Creek).

• 21 meters averaging 4.04 g/t gold and 84.1 g/t silver in hole 21CCDD049 (Cliff Creek).

• 13.74 meters averaging 6.43 g/t gold and 378.6 g/t silver (Dukes Ridge).

Benchmark says mineralization at the 1,600-meter-long Cliff Creek deposit plunges to depth with high-grade zones that remain open to a depth of more than 550 meters at Cliff Creek North and more than 450 meters at Cliff Creek South, highlighting the potential for underground mining scenarios.

Benchmark Metals Inc.

"The aggressive 2023 drill program will be focused on higher-grade gold and silver mineralization located beneath the current PEA pit shells," said Williamson. "The new data will allow for an update of the project's mineral resources and economic study in early 2024."

In the meantime, Benchmark continues to move ahead on a merger with Thesis Gold Inc. that will consolidate Benchmark's Lawyer's and Thesis' adjacent Ranch gold-silver projects to "create a district-scale development and exploration project with significant growth potential."

Further details on the proposed merger can be read at BC explorers Benchmark, Thesis to merge in the June 5, 2023 edition of North of 60 Mining News.

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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