Sherwood pulls more high-grade core from Minto

Vancouver An infill drilling campaign aimed at obtaining “modern” gold assay data from the Minto deposit is also generating high grades for copper, with one of the best holes to date returning 5.3% copper, 2.55 grams gold and 25.5 grams silver per tonne over 16.6 metres, including 8.9 metres of 8.1% copper, 3.66 grams gold and 40.6 grams silver.

Situated in Canada’s Yukon Territory, Minto is owned by Sherwood Copper (SWC-V), which expects to have a feasibility study for the advanced project in hand shortly. A previous operator spent US$10 million on mine construction in the late 1990s before pulling the plug because of low metal prices. Some infrastructure remains, including mill foundations and mine accommodations, along with roads connecting the site to a permitted Yukon River crossing.

The Minto deposit was initially discovered in 1973, when gold prices were low, and previous operators were focused on copper. As a result, historic assay data for precious metals were scant or under-reported for much of the deposit. To remedy that, Sherwood launched an infill drilling program to fill the gaps and obtain modern gold assays for the entire deposit. Last year’s program covered about two-thirds of the deposit, and another campaign was launched late last year for the northern third of the deposit.

One of the recent holes drilled to test the high-grade, bornite-rich core of the deposit intersected coarse visible gold, and returned 18.3 metres of 2.63% copper, 76.8 grams gold and 74.8 grams silver, including 2.6 metres of 4.95% copper, 501.6 grams gold and 468.7 grams silver, and 1 metre of 1.2% copper, 94 grams gold and 21.3 grams silver. While visible gold had previously been observed in core, the latest results have the company considering the possibility of adding a gravity recovery circuit to the proposed mill to maximize recoveries.

Results from five recent holes drilled in the northern portion of the deposit also returned significant results, particularly within the bornite core. In addition to the hole returning the high-grade 16.6-metre intersection, results from other holes include: 15.9 metres of 3.99% copper, 2.89 grams gold and 21.1 grams silver; 13.5 metres of 4% copper, 2.17 grams gold and 23.3 grams silver; and 46.2 metres of 2.17% copper, 0.6 gram gold and 6.5 grams silver.The drill program is now completed, and results will be incorporated into an updated resource model. At last report, Minto hosted measured and indicated resources of 8.5 million tonnes grading 1.81% copper, 0.57 gram gold, and 7.6 grams silver per tonne.

Sherwood may launch another round of drilling this spring to further define and upgrade the bornite-rich core of the deposit. Once the feasibility study is in hand, exploration will focus on testing areas north and south of the proposed open pit.