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Selkirk Copper Mines (TSXV: SCMI) has discovered a new mineralized zone at its Minto copper-gold-silver project and kicked off a Phase 2 drill program targeting up to 50,000 additional metres through 2026.
The newly identified body, dubbed the 117 Lens, sits beneath a previously mined open pit and is within 200 metres of existing underground development. Initial drilling has outlined a tabular zone measuring roughly 250 by 200 metres, dipping gently to the north, with mineralization still open to the west.
Three holes targeted the lens, all of which are said to have hit significant mineralization.
Highlights from the recently released assay results include:
- Hole 26SCM126 (117 Lens): 0.41% copper, 0.38 g/t gold and 3.92 g/t silver (0.58% CuE) over 86.8 metres from 244.2 metres depth
- Including 1.27% copper, 0.89 g/t gold and 5.91 g/t silver (1.98% CuEq) over 12.6 metres
- Hole 26SCM138 (117 Lens): 1.05% copper, 0.53 g/t gold and 3.97 g/t silver (1.48% CuEq) over 13.0 metres from 312.7 metres depth
- Hole 26SCM142 (117 Lens): 2.93% copper, 1.50 g/t gold and 16.37 g/t silver (4.19% CuEq) over 5.0 metres from 325.4 metres depth
- Hole 26SCM124 (Minto North): 0.74% copper, 0.38 g/t gold and 3.92 g/t silver (1.06% CuEq) over 9.7 metres from 224.3 metres depth
- Hole 26SCM128 (Minto East): 2.36% copper, 0.85 g/t gold and 5.44 g/t silver (3.04% CuEq) over 5.8 metres from 241.7 metres depth
- And 2.57% copper, 0.66 g/t gold and 7.66 g/t silver (3.13% CuEq) over 9.1 metres from 476 metres depth
Drilling at Minto East continues to hit stacked, high grade lenses, and a fifth lens intersected at depth in hole 26SCM128 sits beyond the limits of earlier drilling, hinting that the zone has further room to grow.
Phase 2 began on May 1, with two rigs already turning and two more expected on site within the week. The program will balance resource expansion with infill, geotechnical and geometallurgical work designed to feed planned feasibility study work.
President and CEO M. Colin Joudrie said the new program builds on the successful Phase 1 campaign and noted that the updated Mineral Resource Estimate and Preliminary Economic Assessment remain on track for mid-2026, supporting a potential restart decision in mid-2027.
READ: Selkirk Copper Completes 52,000 Metre Phase 1 Drill Program At Minto, Assays Pending
Phase 1, which wrapped up in April, came in at 52,288 metres across 175 holes, one of the largest drill campaigns completed in Yukon in the past decade, and 105% of the originally planned 50,000 metre target. Assay results have now been released for roughly 78% of Phase 1, with the balance expected over the next month.
Earlier results from that program included some of the highest-grade hits in the campaign, among them 4.19% copper, 2.50 g/t gold and 21.15 g/t silver (6.2% CuEq) over 14.7 metres at Minto North, and 6.60% copper, 5.18 g/t gold and 27.02 g/t silver (8.3% CuEq) over 6.6 metres at Area 118, a hole the company says ranks in the top 98th percentile for copper equivalent grade across more than 1,400 holes drilled at Minto over six decades.
Resource expansion drilling in Phase 2 will continue to focus on Minto North, Area 118, Ridgetop and the new 117 Lens, while a summer field program turns its attention to geological mapping and prospecting across Selkirk Copper’s 26,850 hectares of claims in the Minto-Carmacks copper belt.
Selkirk Copper last traded at $1.76 on the TSX Venture.
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