Kodiak Copper Corp said it expects to have completed 20,000 to 25,000 metres (m) of drilling at its MPD copper-gold project in British Columbia before year-end as it reported new assays from the Gate Zone and that it had started work at the high priority Dillard target.
This year's exploration program was on track, said the company, adding that a large program was also planned for 2022, including assessing the magnetic low between the Gate and Man target areas, follow-up drilling at Dillard, and starting on the newly acquired Axe property.
"The Gate Zone keeps delivering impressive drill results and I am very pleased with the progress of our work to date," said CEO Claudia Tornquist in a statement. "Kudos to our technical team for executing successfully the largest ever exploration program at MPD, despite unusually challenging weather conditions this year. The Gate Zone discovery is only the first step of our exploration strategy. It proves our district-scale approach and provides a road map for other target areas at what we believe is a multi-centre porphyry system at MPD."
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Results were reported from nine holes at the Gate Zone (which remains open in multiple directions), which defined additional mineralization towards the centre of the zone and expanded the margins of the zone to the south, and west, the firm noted.
Highlights from one hole included 105m of 0.50% copper, 0.39 grams per ton (g/t) gold and 1.57 g/t silver, within a broader 504m interval of 0.37% copper, 0.15 g/t gold and 1.11 g/t silver.
At the Gate zone margins, six new holes targeted the pyrite-dominated envelope surrounding higher grade mineralization, to help define the dimensions of the Gate Zone porphyry centre, with one hole hitting 6m at a grade of 2.40 g/t gold.
Five of the holes hit anomalous to low-grade copper-gold mineralization with pyrite dominating over chalcopyrite over significant widths. Highlights included 132m of 0.15% copper, 0.08 g/t gold and 0.43 g/t silver.
Kodiak noted that the Gate Zone results also highlighted the prospective nature of other areas such as the Dillard. Man and Axe targets, which generally lack deeper drilling.
Meanwhile, at the Dillard target, drilling will carry on during the remainder of the fourth quarter. Like at the Gate Zone, most historic drilling at Dillard was shallow, hitting anomalous copper over significant widths. It rarely tested below 350m depth and mineralized potential remains open in all directions, noted the firm.
Updating on progress, Kodiak said that 34 holes for 18,724m had been drilled as at October 17, this year and that delays in lab throughput times continue.
Additional plans in Q4 include a DC Resistivity/Induced Polarization (3DIP) and Magnetotelluric (MT) geophysical survey at the Gate Zone, it added.
Kodiak's most advanced asset is the MPD copper-gold porphyry project, which spans a large package of 14,716 hectares and sits near several operating mines in the southern Quesnel Terrane, British Columbia's primary copper-gold producing belt.
Contact the writer at giles@proactiveinvestors.com