Benchmark Metals Inc. (TSX-V:BNCH, OTCQX:BNCHF) has reported encouraging drill results from the Dukes Ridge deposit at its flagship Lawyers project in British Columbia—one of the three known deposits at the property.
Compared to the AGB and Cliffs Creek deposits there has been little drilling at Dukes Ridge, suggesting there is "significant" potential to expand mineralization along-strike and to depth.
Notably, the plunging high-grade mineralization there resembles that seen at the Cliff Creek North and South zones and the latest drill results will be included in the upcoming resource estimate.
"There is significant opportunity to increase gold and silver ounces on-strike and to depth with additional shallow drilling in an area with minimal historical drilling at Dukes Ridge," said John Williamson, the CEO of Benchmark, in a statement.
"Dukes is the smallest of the three deposits but has strong growth potential with additional drilling given the new results and its growing similarities to Cliff Creek Deposit.
READ: Benchmark Metals says engineering at Lawyers project is advancing towards permitting a gold and silver mine
"The continuity of high-grade and bulk-tonnage mineralization below the existing pit-shell is expected to contribute more gold and silver ounces to the project, and we look forward to the updated Mineral Resource Estimate that will include the latest results from Dukes Ridge," he added.
Among the highlights of the latest infill and expansion drilling at Dukes Ridge was a hole, which hit a core length of 51.74 metres (m) starting from 277m depth, which graded 2.11 grams per tonne (g/t) gold and 127.86 g/t silver or 3.71 g/t gold equivalent (AuEq).
Another hole intersected 1.52m at 4.51 g/t gold and 61.80 g/t silver, starting from a depth of 70.10m.
The Dukes Ridge deposit accounted for 109,000 indicated gold-equivalent ounces in the 2021 resource estimate and included gold-silver ounces at surface.
Dukes Ridge now comprises a mineralized footprint that measures over 850 metres in strike-length and over 250 metres vertical depth.
Benchmark Metals is advancing its wholly-owned owned Lawyer's project, which sits in the prolific Golden Horseshoe of northern British Columbia, Canada. The project consists of three mineralized deposits that remain open for expansion, in addition to over 20 new target areas along a 20 km trend.
Contact the writer at giles@proactiveinvestors.com