Mining News: Northern Neighbors: Drilling expands world-class Deep Kerr at KSM

Seabridge Gold Inc. Nov. 15 said the final three holes drilled this year at Deep Kerr successfully filled in the gaps required to support a southern extension of this exciting higher grade deposit at the KSM project in northwestern British Columbia. The five holes completed in 2016 are expected to expand the known resource about 500 meters along strike to the south at grades consistent with the deposit’s inferred resource. Over the past three years, Seabridge’s exploration programs have successfully targeted higher grade zones beneath KSM’s near-surface porphyry deposits, resulting in the discovery of Deep Kerr and the Iron Cap Lower Zone, two copper-rich deposits that have added more than one billion metric tons of inferred resources to the project at a higher average grade. The Deep Kerr deposit contains an inferred resource of 1.61 billion metric tons averaging 0.43 percent (15.2 billion pounds) copper, 0.31 grams per metric ton (16 million oz.) gold and 1.8 g/t (93 million oz.) silver. This puts Deep Kerr among the world’s largest undeveloped gold-copper deposits. The final three holes of this year’s program are daughter holes directionally drilled from K-16-51 and 52. Hole K-16-51A, steered to the south of K-16-51, intersected Deep Kerr about 200 meters south of the original drill hole. This hole cut two intercepts: 125.1 meters of 0.34 percent copper, 0.47 g/t gold and 2.7 g/t silver; and 41. 7 meters of 0.61 percent copper, 0.55 g/t gold and 2.6 g/t silver. Hole K-16-52A, steered to cut the target zone directly below the original hole, cut 151.4 meters averaging 0.35 percent copper, 0.21 g/t gold and 1.1 g/t silver. Hole K-16-52B, drilled to intersect the zone below and north of K-16-52, cut 235.6 meters averaging 0.53 percent copper 0.32 g/t gold and 2 g/t silver. Seabridge says the results from these drill holes continue to show that Deep Kerr is a robust and extensive copper-gold deposit with a north-south strike extent approaching 2,000 meters and more than 1,500 meters of vertical continuity. The shape and orientation of the extension are expected to expand the block cave designs in the proposed mine plan. Seabridge Chairman and CEO Rudi Fronk said, “These drill results should contribute to another increase in the Deep Kerr inferred resource estimate. This year’s drill program was carefully designed to optimize the prospective mine plan at Deep Kerr and thereby improve the KSM project’s potential economics. The mineralized intervals encountered in this year’s drilling are effectively oriented for efficient extraction and should support an expanded rate of daily production.”

-Shane Lasley