Gladiator Metals Corp. July 31 announced an update to its ongoing data compilation of historic drilling and the largely untested shallow, high-grade Arctic Chief prospect as the once-producing Whitehorse Copper project in Yukon, Canada.

Located practically in the backyard of Yukon's capital city, from which it gets its name, the Whitehorse Copper project is a 35-kilometer (22 miles) by five-kilometer (three miles) contiguous high-grade copper belt with 30 known prospective targets that saw production of approximately 267.5 million pounds copper, 225,000 ounces gold, and 2.84 million oz of silver from 11.1 million tons of mineralized skarn ore milled between the years 1967 and 1982.

Disclosing its intention to option the property in late 2022, Gladiator has quickly mustered to update records with modern knowledge and paint a clearer picture of this past-producing property.

"Gladiator is pleased to have identified another work area from its data compilation of historic drilling datasets," said Gladiator Metals CEO Jason Bontempo. "Drilling and past production from the Arctic Chief prospect remains shallow and is open in all directions."

According to historic accounts, Arctic Chief was reported as producing roughly 202,000 metric tons of copper ore averaging 1.4% copper and 1 gram per metric ton gold.

Given recent reexamination, the company has found that historical drill intersections at Arctic Chief, aside from previously mined areas, include mineralization that remains open both along strike and at depth, with the best historical results including:

• 17.1 meters averaging 1.52% copper from a depth of 26.5 meters in hole AC-015.

• 13.4 meters averaging 1.42% copper from 20.9 meters in AC-013.

• 6.8 meters averaging 3.14% copper from 80.5 meters in AC-051.

• 6.7 meters averaging 2.24% copper from 29.4 meters in AC-035.

"Excitingly, initial field work from Gladiator's summer field programs highlights the wider potential of the prospect with high grade copper and gold identified in multiple surface outcrops," added Bontempo.

Recent mapping and confirmatory rock chip results have helped substantiate historic numbers.

The company says that geological continuity of outcropping high-grade copper and gold mineralization in the wider area surrounding Arctic Chief has been established by recent field mapping and rock chip results where mineralization remains open both along strike and at depth at all the defined prospect areas. Some of the best rock chip samples include:

• 13.3% copper and 5.53 g/t gold.

• 8.05% copper and 10.1 g/t gold.

• 4.69% copper and 4.46 g/t gold.

• 5.8% copper and 1.8 g/t gold.

While only limited exploration has been completed to date away from the identified mineralization in the wider Arctic Chief prospect area, these glimpses have provided Gladiator with enough data to consolidate multiple target areas through ongoing regional mapping, sampling, and geophysical programs aimed at further refining drill targets in the area.

Additionally, historical drilling completed by previous operator Hudson Bay Mining and Smelting Co. Ltd. was only selectively sampled for high-grade copper only. However, given the high-grade gold reported in recent chip samples, the company intends to assay all future drilling and sampling for additional credits, including gold, silver, and molybdenum, which were proven contributors to the economics of past operations.

Gladiator Metals Corp.

Click image for larger map.

"Field crews are still active in the Whitehorse Copper belt with regional scale mapping, sampling and geophysical programs taking place in the summer months," said Bontempo. "We look forward to updating the market in the coming months with results from this regional exploration, further data compilation of historic drilling, assays from previously unlogged and unsampled core as well news from Gladiators planned 4,000-meter diamond drill campaign at Cowley Park."