HIGH-GRADE COPPER MINERALISATION IDENTIFIED AT MIDDLE CHIEF AND CLASS 1 PERMIT EXTENSION GRANTED
Highlights
Recent collation of historic data identifies the Middle Chief prospect a significant highly prospective unmined zone of mineralisation, commencing from 120m below surface at the northern extent of the former Little Chief open cut and underground mine at the
LCU-017: 54.10m @ 2.05% Cu from 77.42m
LCU-023: 33.99m @ 2.10% Cu from 148.89m, Incl. 15.24m @ 3.26%Cu
LCU-503: 32.22m @ 2.11% Cu from 83.91m, Incl. 17.07m @ 3.47% Cu
LCU-543: 13.72m @ 1.28% Cu from 66.14m and 41.15m @ 2.22% Cu from 87.48m
LCU-610: 50.99m @ 1.87% Cu from 18.11m, Incl. 39.84m @ 2.19% Cu from 23.16m
High grade copper skarn mineralisation at Middle Chief remains open in all directions. Unmined historic resources were established, and drilling completed just prior to the closure of the Little Chief mine in 1982, due to the prevailing low copper prices at the time.
Approval has now received from the
Compiled historical drilling data is limited to selective sampling and assaying for copper only. Gladiator intends to assay all future drilling and sampling for additional credits including Molybdenum, Silver and Gold which were proven contributors to the economics of historic operations.
Gladiator CEO,
Historical drilling and past production from the Little Chief mine area as a whole remains shallow, and this data compilation represents an opportunity to review the deposit in 3D for the first time to begin to appreciate the exploration potential of the high-grade copper-gold skarn, which remains open in all directions, for future resource growth.
Planned diamond drilling is scheduled to commence in the coming months and will be testing the Middle Chief target as well as near mine extensions to the historic Little Chief mine.'
The former Little Chief mining trend is the largest historically producing Mine in the Whitehorse Copper Belt with a total mined production of approximately 8.54 million tonnes grading > l.5% copper and 0.75g/t gold (
Gladiator has recently completed collating historic drilling for the Little Chief historical production area. Supporting this work, the Company has completed a LIDAR survey and undertaken reconnaissance, prospecting and sampling of outcropping Cu-Au skarn mineralization proximal to the historic Little Chief underground and open cut mine. From this, the Company has confirmed the existence of significant mineralization that was drilled initially from the decline constructed to access the former Little Chief underground mine, with further drilling being undertaken prior to the mine closure in 1982.
This was supported by
The recently collated historical drilling data has identified a significant, a greater than 200m long body of shallow mineralization (120m below surface), located underneath the decline and to the north of the Little Chief Open pit and underground mine, named the Middle Chief mineralization. This mineralization appears to remain intact with drilling completed to date being limited in scope and size and has not closed off the unmined high grade copper skarn mineralization at Middle Chief. Further drilling is also planned to test the extent of remnant mineralization from the Little Chief orebody that remains open along strike and down dip,: The recently collated historic drilling (628 Underground holes LCU-001-619, BC2490-1-2, BC2500-1-2 and 166 Surface holes LC-001-121, MC-001-014, XLC-001-028 & BCF-001-006) & D-001-4 for 68,940 metres) none of which had been previously reported by the Company, highlighted significant mineralization that potentially remains intact, this includes the following drill holes from Middle Chief that have been collared underground:
LCU-003: 53.56m @ 1.23% Cu from 88.54m
LCU-009: 49.83m @ 3.06% Cu from 70.26m
LCU-013 23.01m @ 2.07% Cu from 87.78m
LCU-017: 54.10m @ 2.05% Cu from 77.42m
LCU-023: 33.99m @ 2.10% Cu from 148.89m, Incl. 15.24m @ 3.26%Cu from 167.64m
LCU-151: 32.92m @ 2.08% Cu from 86.87m
LCU-371: 9.30m @ 4.73% Cu from 0m
LCU-500: 22.52m @ 2.23% Cu from 79.86m
LCU-503: 32.22m @ 2.11% Cu from 83.91m, Incl. 17.07m @ 3.47% Cu from 99.06m
LCU-528: 30.85m @ 1.68% Cu from 18.68m, Incl.22.47m @ 2.06% Cu from 18.68m
LCU-542: 28.04m @ 1.84% Cu from 91.14m, Incl. 19.81m @ 2.35% Cu 96.32m
LCU-543: 13.72m @ 1.28% Cu from 66.14m and 41.15m @ 2.22% Cu from 87.48m
LCU-550: 37.49m @ 1.90% Cu from 74.68m
LCU-551: 24.9m @ 2.27% Cu from 93.97m
LCU-571: 11.06m @ 3.79% Cu from 89.37m
LCU-578; 30.17m @ 1.97% Cu from 31.09m
LCU-580: 24.14m @ 1.86% Cu from 45.96m, Incl. 21.10m @ 2.00% Cu from 45.96m
LCU-604: 26.21m @ 1.86% Cu from 16.46m
LCU-610: 50.99m @ 1.87% Cu from 18.11m, Incl. 39.84m @ 2.19% Cu from 23.16mm
LCU-614: 38.22m @ 1.39% Cu from 10.24m, Incl. 32.13m @ 1.53% Cu from 14.81m
LCU-616: 37.79m @ 1.55% Cu from 21.34m, Incl. 28.65m @ 1.9% Cu from 30.48m
The compilation of the available data completed by Gladiator is the first time that the mineralization has been able to be reviewed and modeled in three dimensions, providing Gladiator with a unique opportunity to target further mineralization and utilize modern geophysics such as down hole electromagnetics (DHEM).
Gladiator intends to commence exploration drilling at Middle Chief in the coming months under its recently approved Class 1 exploration notification. This drilling will be complemented by DHEM surveying of the holes to identify undrilled extensions to the mineralization.
In addition to this, Gladiator is currently undertaking a high-resolution drone borne aeromagnetic survey over the Little Chief area. On completion, Gladiator plans to have the magnetics processed and a three-dimensional inversion model completed. This is of significant importance given that mineralization previously exploited along the Little Chief trend is associated with Magnetite enriched Skarns and is able to be directly targeted from its magnetic signature.
Historical drilling at
Holes were drilled at various dips on variable, prospect specific, nominal grids. Gladiator obtained the drill records and logs from the
Drill holes with the prefixes 'LCU-', 'D- 'and 'BC2' were 'Collared' or conducted from underground mining infrastructure, including drill drives and the main decline used to access the
Regional Exploration
Work completed to date has identified more than 30, drill ready, high-grade regional targets associated with copper rich skarns at the contact between the Cretaceous age Whitehorse Plutonic Suite and the Triassic to
Gladiator's position is enhanced at Whitehorse, with the project having near year-round access for work programs, including an established road and drill access network, low capital infrastructure requirements due to the project's proximity to
QA / QC and Data Verification
The drill results reported in this news release are historical in nature. Gladiator has not undertaken any independent investigation, nor has it independently analyzed the results of the historical exploration work in order to verify the results. The Company believes that the historical drill results do not conform to the presently accepted industry standards. Gladiator considers these historical drill results relevant as the Company will use this data as a guide to plan future exploration and drilling programs. The Company also considers the data to be reliable for these purposes, however, the Company's future exploration work will include verification of the data through drilling. The Company has provided drill results derived form the compilation of historic data relating to prospects which were mined or partially mined by prior operators. The Company is using this data as it attempts to identify trends within the prospect areas. The Company expects to use this data as a guide to plan future exploration and drilling programs.
The historical mineral resources discussed in this press release were calculated using mining industry standard practices for estimating Mineral Resource and Mineral Reserves prior to the implementation of the current CIM standards for mineral resource estimation (as defined by the CIM Definition Standard on Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves dated
Copper mineralization was first discovered in 1897 on the Whitehorse Copper Belt, as it became to be known. The Whitehorse Copper Belt comprised over 30 copper-related, primarily skarn occurrences covering an area of 35 by 5 km in a north westerly trending arc. Exploration and mining development have been carried out intermittently since that time with the main production era lasting between 1967 and 1982 where production totaled 267,500,000 pounds copper, 225,000 ounces of gold and 2,838,000 ounces of silver from 11.1 million tons of mineralized material milled (
The Project is accessible through with numerous access roads and trails located within 2 km of the
In
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Email: dzinger@gladiatormetals.com
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