Buchans PDAC Update on 2021 Exploration Plans
● Collaboration work with Boliden Underway
● Potential High-Grade Addition to Lundberg Deposit
Toronto, Ontario–(Newsfile Corp. – March 9, 2021) – Buchans Resources Limited (“Buchans“) reports that compilation and assessment work, in conjunction with Boliden AB, is well underway on the Company’s Buchans VMS project in Newfoundland under the Boliden Collaboration Agreement announced January 5, 2021 and that 2021 exploration plans include drilling a high-grade target adjacent to the Company’s large Lundberg, potential open pit, deposit.
Boliden Buchans Collaboration
As part of the collaboration with Boliden, both Boliden and Buchans have initiated coordinated compilation and review activities on the Buchans Camp VMS property, including construction of 3D geological models by Buchans geologists, as well as compilation and assessment of historic geophysical data by Boliden in-house geophysicists.
Buchans has undertaken considerable work focused on identifying target areas with potential for discovery of new, buried, high-grade orebodies; largely by accessing historic data as well as more recent data collected by Buchans, including relogging of more than 154,000 metres of archived drill core from approximately 850 drill holes throughout the property.
Under the Collaboration Agreement, Boliden is evaluating the Company’s Buchans property for possible future investment and participation and is funding a $600,000 program that will include geological, geophysical and geochemical evaluations of the Camp. The evaluation is also reviewing available datasets to evaluate exploration techniques and technologies that might be adapted and applied to further exploration within the camp for new high-grade orebodies.
The Collaboration Agreement grants Boliden exclusivity until December 31, 2021 to complete its evaluation and negotiate Earn-in and Option and JV agreements, during which period Buchans has agreed not to provide information to or negotiate with any third party on the project; and, assuming Boliden submits a proposal, a right of first refusal for a further six-month period.
Buchans is confident that its Buchans project holds potential for discovery of new VMS deposits comparable to historically mined orebodies in the camp, where Asarco mined more than 16. 2 million tonnes from five separate deposits, with a combined average grade of 14.51% Zn, 7.65% Pb, 1.33% Cu, 126 g/t Ag, and 1.37g/t Au, before mine closure in 1984.
Lundberg Deposit – Potential Open Pit Mine
The Company’s core holding within the Buchans mining district of central Newfoundland includes mineral rights covering approximately 252 km2 (25,200 hectares) considered prospective for VMS Zn-Pb-Cu-Ag-Au base metal deposits. This extensive land package hosts several undeveloped deposits including the Company’s large Lundberg stockwork sulphide deposit, located beneath the former Lucky Strike massive sulphide orebody at Buchans.
Lundberg, with Indicated Mineral Resources of 16,790,000 tonnes grading 1.53% Zn, 0.64% Pb, 0.42% Cu, 5.69 g/t Ag and 0.07 g/t Au (3.38% Zn Eq) represents the largest and most advanced base metal deposit in the district and has been the subject of multiple resource estimates, metallurgical test programs and other technical activities designed to advance the deposit towards development as a large, polymetallic, open pit mining project (See Technical Report entitled: “NI 43-101 Technical Report and Mineral Resource Estimate on the Lundberg Deposit, Buchans Area, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada“, dated April 15, 2019, filed on SEDAR).
The Lundberg Resource Estimate was completed by Mercator Geological Services in 2019 and Mercator’s primary recommendation was that an updated assessment of the Lundberg deposit’s economic potential be completed as the next phase of project evaluation. This could take the form of a new Preliminary Economic Assessment or an internal economic study leading to a decision to proceed directly to a PFS assessment of Lundberg Deposit economics.
Potential High-Grade Additions to Lundberg Project
Buchans recognizes that further enhancements for development of Lundberg could be achieved through exploration by the discovery of additional mineral resources immediately adjacent to the Lundberg deposit. To this end, the Company has reviewed the potential of the area to host additional higher-grade, underground resources that might supplement an open pit mine development at Lundberg.
Since 2014, the Company’s has been engaged in an ongoing major relogging program, reviewing archived drill cores from its Buchans project. This program is being undertaken as a means of identifying and evaluating additional exploration target areas throughout the project that have potential for the discovery of new high-grade Buchans orebodies. To date, this program has identified multiple target areas warranting further exploration, including the Two-Level (Lucky Strike) mine area, located immediately north of the Lundberg deposit, where the Company believes potential exists to discover additional high-grade resources down plunge of previous exploration drilling.
The Two-Level target area covers the on-strike extension of favourable geology extending westward from drilling completed by the Company in 2018 where hole H-18-3524 intersected 1.0 m assaying 14.83% combined base metals (%Cu+%Pb+%Zn or “CBM”) as 8.70% Zn, 4.87% Pb, 1.26% Cu, 133.2 g/t Ag and 0.47 g/t Au, just north of Lundberg and beyond the reach of the underground workings of the former Lucky Strike Mine. (see Buchans News Release dated November 20, 2018).
This hole intersected a series of structural panels hosting both more steeply dipping and dropped extensions to the targeted Buchans horizon, where additional high-grade sulphide ore may occur within areas that remain underexplored by past drilling. Similar offsets and drown-dip potential was noted intermitently along the MacLean ore trend extending from surface at the former Lucky Strike orebody, northwest down plunge, almost to 1 km depth, at the former MacLean Extension orebody. The potential of this recently recognized Two Level target environment is demonstrated by historical production from the nearby Lucky Strike-MacLean Extension ore trend that accounted for approximately 12.7 Million tonnes of the high-grade ore previously mined at Buchans.
This Two-Level target area is largely underexplored, as historic drilling from surface tended to be drilled at either wide spacings or too shallow to adequately test this concept, such that a significant deposit, comparable to previously mined underground orebodies in the Buchans camp, may yet be discovered in this area. Likewise, historic drilling completed from underground is also considered to have not adequately tested this area as underground drilling was generally limited to areas immediately surrounding the known deposits as delineation drilling, without drilling into more distant areas where down-dropped extensions to the ore trend may occur.
Based upon results and assessment to date, Buchans believes the Two-Level area holds potential for discovery of additional high-grade ore that could complement the Lundberg potential open pit development, or perhaps extend down plunge into areas capable of hosting much larger deposits that could be developed as new underground mine developments.
Buchans is planning a minimum 3-hole, 1,500 metre drill program to test the Two-Level target in summer 2021.
QUALIFIED PERSON
Paul Moore, P. Geo., Vice President Exploration, is the Company’s designated non-Independent Qualified Person and has reviewed and approved the technical and scientific contents relating to Buchans in this news release.
ABOUT BUCHANS
Buchans Resources currently holds interests in zinc, lead, silver properties located in Newfoundland; gold properties in Newfoundland and in Labrador; nickel, copper, cobalt properties in Labrador, and indirectly through its shareholding in Xtierra Inc. in base metal and silver projects in Mexico, and through its shareholding in Minco Exploration plc in base metal exploration licences in Ireland also held in joint venture with Boliden.
Buchans Resources is focused on exploration and development of exceptional mineral resource deposits comparable to the world’s top tier mining operations.
Enquiries:
John F. Kearney: Chairman & Chief Executive +1 416 362 6686
Paul Moore: V.P. Exploration +1 709 738-7384
Steve Dawson V.P. Corporate +1 647 998 9495
Peter McParland: Director – Ireland +353 (0) 46 907 3709
Additional information is available on the Buchans website at www.BuchansResources.com
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This news release contains certain forward-looking statements relating to, but not limited to, the Company’s expectations, intentions, plans and beliefs. Forward-looking information can often be identified by forward-looking words such as “anticipate”, “believe”, “expect”, “goal”, “plan”, “intend”, “estimate”, “may” and “will” or similar words suggesting future outcomes, or other expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives, assumptions, intentions or statements about future events or performance. Forward-looking information may include reserve and resource estimates, estimates of future production, unit costs, costs of capital projects and timing of commencement of operations, and is based on current expectations that involve a number of business risks and uncertainties. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from any forward-looking statement include, but are not limited to, failure to establish estimated resources and reserves the grade and recovery of ore which is mined varying from estimates, capital and operating costs varying significantly from estimates, delays in obtaining or failures to obtain required governmental, environmental or other project approvals, delays in the development of projects changes in exchange rates, fluctuations in commodity prices, inflation and other factors. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from expected results. Shareholders and prospective investors should be aware that these statements are subject to known and unknown risks uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those suggested by the forward-looking statements. Shareholders are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information. By its nature, forward-looking information involves numerous assumptions, inherent risks and uncertainties, both general and specific, that contribute to the possibility that the predictions, forecasts, projections and various future events will not occur. The Company undertakes no obligation to update publicly or otherwise revise any forward-looking information whether as a result of new information, future events or other such factors which affect this information, except as required by law.
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