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Pacific Ridge Exploration (TSXV: PEX) signed an earn-in agreement with Aurico Metals (TSX:AMI), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Centerra Gold (TSX:CG), to acquire up to a 75% interest in the Kliyul and Redton copper-gold porphyry projects in British Columbia, western Canada.
Kliyul is a 6,000-hectare advanced exploration project located 50 kilometres southeast of the Kemess mine and 5 kilometres from the Omineca mining road, in one of the most geochemically anomalous areas for copper and gold in the Quesnel Terrane.
Geological interpretation supported by a variety of geophysical surveys suggest there is potential to expand the size of the Kliyul mineralized system
According to Pacific Ridge, the property contains several occurrences registered in the province’s mineral inventory database, including four major target areas, namely, Kliyul, Bap Ridge, Ginger-Shadow and M39, each representing an interpreted porphyry centre over a 4 kilometres strike length.
“The Kliyul Zone is the most intensely explored of these, with 33 drill holes (5,524 m) drilled since 1974, most of which targeted a near-surface Cu-Au magnetite skarn zone,” the miner said in a media statement. “Deeper drilling in 2015 encountered a porphyry gold-copper system.”
Redton, on the other hand, is a porphyry copper-gold property that adjoins Kwanika Copper Corporation’s Kwanika property along its eastern and northern boundary.
“The Redton North target is a coincident magnetic and IP chargeability anomaly located 2.5 kilometres north of the Kwanika Central Zone deposit (Measured and Indicated Resource of 223.6 million tonnes grading 0.27% copper, 0.25 g/t gold and 0.87 g/t silver containing 1.32 billion pounds of Cu, 1.83 million ounces of Au and 6.27 million ounces of Ag) and is ready for drilling,” Pacific Ridge’s brief reads.
Under the terms of the agreement, Pacific Ridge has the right to earn a 51% interest in the properties by making cash payments of $100,000, issuing 2 million shares and spending $3.5 million on exploration by December 31, 2023.
The company then has the right to increase its interest in the properties to 75% by making payments of $60,000, issuing 1.5 million shares and completing an additional $3.5 million in exploration by December 31, 2025.
“We are excited about the discovery potential of these very well-located projects, within a prolific mineral and mining belt,” Gerry Carlson, president of Pacific Ridge, said in the release. “The Kliyul project hosts some promising gold-copper intersections from historical drilling on the Kliyul Zone, with numerous other untested targets within a four-kilometre long altered and mineralized corridor.”
