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Benchmark Metals (TSXV: BNCH) announced that on June 15, 2019, it will start a drilling program at the Lawyers gold-silver project located in British Columbia’s Toodoggone Mineral District.
In a media statement, the Edmonton-based firm said the drilling will focus on infill, step-out and deeper drilling to expand the current resources at the zones known as Cliff Creek and Dukes Ridge and establish new resources at the Phoenix and AGB zones. The program will include 14,000 to 25,000 metres of drilling, 2,000 to 3,500 soil samples, 600 to 1,000 rock samples, mapping, and ground geophysics.
Benchmark believes the Lawyers Trend has potential for near 5 million gold equivalent ounces
The miner also said that resource expansion drilling will target both high-grade and bulk-tonnage areas that have generated significant results including 87 g/t gold and 2,407 g/t silver across 2.4 metres (DDHCC15-15) in the Cliff Creek Zone and 5.76 g/t gold and 128.65 g/t silver across 33.52 metres (18DRRC010) in the Dukes Ridge Zone.
“After a thorough review of 2018 drilling and historical results that included infill sampling of previous drilling campaigns, we believe the Lawyers Trend has potential for near 5 million gold equivalent ounces,” Benchmark’s CEO, John Williamson, said in the press release. “The 2018 program expanded the Cliff Creek Zone to over 550 metre and the Dukes Ridge Zone to over 700-metre strike lengths, and mineralisation remains open in all directions. In addition, we have generated over 6 new large targets for drill testing. In 2019, we expect to generate similar results to the 2018 drill program and publish new mineral resource estimates.”
Lawyers consists of 37 contiguous mineral claims that cover 9,860 hectares. The project sits on the eastern extent of the prolific Stikine Terrane that also hosts the famous BC Golden Triangle.
According to Benchmark, exploration in the area began in the late 1960s and peaked in the 1980s, identifying numerous showings, prospects and deposits. By 1989, the (former) Lawyers underground gold-silver mine was already operating and produced 171,200 oz gold and 3.6 million oz silver over four years.
