An update on exploration at the New Afton mine in British Columbia has been released by New Gold, indicating ongoing increase in the K and HW zones. High-grade copper-gold porphyry mineralisation was discovered while drilling in the eastern part of the mine, supporting previous findings from the K zone.
It is looking like a possible new high-grade mining area could be found in the eastern sector, which includes the K zone, HW zone, and east extension resource. The zones are close to current infrastructure and situated above the C zone extraction level, which may lower the amount of money and time needed for production.
The bornite-bearing zone, which reaches both the K zone and HW zone, returned grades such as:
- Intersected 4.18% copper and 3.03 g/t gold over 50 metres
- Intersected 1.60% copper and 1.87 g/t gold over 76 metres
- Intersected 1.66% copper and 2.14 g/t gold over 54 metres
- Intersected 1.75% copper and 1.49 g/t gold over 16 metres
- Intersected 0.90% copper and 2.12 g/t gold over 24 metres
The most remarkable finding came from well EA24-510 in the K zone, which intersected 1.90 g/t gold and 2.83% copper over 84 meters, one of the greatest grades at New Afton. Other noteworthy outcomes from drilling are as follows:
K zone:
- Borehole EA24-516: Intersected 0.99% copper and 1.23 g/t gold over 169 metres
- Borehole EA24-519 in bornite-bearing zone: Intersected 3.25% copper and 1.91 g/t gold over 36 metres
- Borehole EA24-520: Intersected 1.13% copper and 1.43 g/t gold over 93 metres
Excellent results from drilling in the HW zone were also obtained, with well EA24-506 yielding 1.08 g/t gold and 1.05% copper over 51 meters.
HW zone:
- Borehole EA24-521B: 0.49% copper and 1.08 g/t gold were intersected over 94 meters.
With an extra $3 million to spend, New Gold intends to expand the 10,000 meters of drilling it will do at New Afton in 2024 in order to further characterise these high-grade zones. By the end of 2024, the business hopes to publish preliminary mineral resources for the K zone.
