Kodiak Copper Corp. (TSX-V:KDK) told investors that results from five additional holes drilled in 2021 at the Gate Zone at its 100%-owned MPD copper-gold porphyry project in southern British Columbia have continued to intersect significant copper-gold grades over substantial intervals.
The company said the new results have now extended the higher-grade central zone at Gate further to the east and at depth. The Gate Zone porphyry target remains open to extension in multiple directions, it added.
"As we kick-off the 2022 exploration campaign at the MPD project against the backdrop of a very strong copper market, we continue to be extremely pleased with the results from our 2021 drilling, with the Gate Zone consistently delivering long intercepts of high-grade copper-gold mineralization,” Kodiak president and CEO Claudia Tornquist said in a statement.
“The latest results support the interpreted extension of the Gate Zone to the south-east that is also evident in our geophysical data. The fact that this presents only one of several target areas for further drilling highlights the potential to still significantly expand the mineralized envelope at Gate.”
READ: Kodiak says drilling is to resume at MPD copper-gold-porphyry project in British Columbia
Kodiak said new drill hole MPD-21-029 intersected 150 metres (m) of 0.50% copper, 0.28 grams per ton (g/t) gold and 1.86 g/t silver (0.69% copper equivalent) within a broader 372m interval of 0.35% copper, 0.18 g/t gold and 1.16 g/t silver (0.47% CuEq).
The company said the results support the mineralized potential of high-priority drill targets identified by a recent 3D Induced Polarization (3D IP) geophysical survey. The high-grade, bornite-chalcopyrite copper mineralization in MPD-21-029 suggests that a higher-temperature, mineralizing source for the central Gate Zone may lie to the east-southeast and at depth, it added.
New drill hole MPD-21-028 intersected 51m of 0.43% copper, 0.10 g/t gold and 1.67 g/t silver (0.51% CuEq) within a broader 130.6m interval of 0.27% copper, 0.06 g/t gold and 1.07 g/t silver (0.32% CuEq).
New drill hole MPD-21-027 intersected 72m of 0.31% copper, 0.09 g/t gold and 0.55 g/t silver (0.36% CuEq) within a broader 173m interval of 0.18% copper, 0.05 g/t gold and 0.37 g/t silver (0.22% CuEq).
Kodiak said results from 29 of 36 drill holes from the 2021 drill have been reported to date and it expects the outstanding drill results in the second quarter of 2022.
A large drill program of up to 25,000m and additional 3D IP surveying will be conducted in 2022. The company said this will further evaluate Gate and parallel high-priority drill targets nearby, as well as targets in the Dillard, Man and Axe areas, which exhibit similar regional geophysical and geochemical anomalies, and near-surface mineralization from historic trenches and drilling.
“We will carry on with systematic drilling at the Gate Zone, and also look forward to using the same approach that led to this discovery to unlock the potential of multiple other targets at MPD in 2022,” Tornquist concluded.
MPD is a large, consolidated land package of 14,716 hectares (Ha) near several operating mines in the southern Quesnel Terrane, British Columbia's primary copper-gold producing belt. The project is located midway between the towns of Merritt and Princeton, with year-round accessibility and excellent infrastructure nearby.
Kodiak has a multi-year, area-based exploration permit that authorizes new drill sites and expanded exploration activity across the MPD property to 2026.
Contact the author at stephen.gunnion@proactiveinvestors.com