Thompson Knolls Phase Two Exploration Drilling Completed
VANCOUVER - BCM Resources Corp (B) has completed Phase 2 drilling exploration at its Thompson Knolls (TK) greenfield Cu-Au-Ag-Mo project in the southwestern part of Utah. Phase 3 drilling at TK is scheduled to begin in the forthcoming fall season. B also reports the results of age dating on the porphyry intrusive bodies and molybdenum mineralization discovered to date at TK.
President, Sergei Diakov, said, "We are very excited with the drilling results from Phase 2 exploration program at TK. It is a significant technical success by the Company's exploration team. We have proven that TK is a dynamic Cu-Au-Ag-Mo porphyry system with multiple pulses and stages of mineralization. Based on drilling to date, TK has a significant footprint - this is what I want to see at the early discovery stages. That said, the highly mineralized core system is yet to be found. Previous drilling along with petrographic and age dating data indicates that there is a giant size porphyry system with multiple pulses. Our team is focusing on vectoring to the core of this system and test our new concepts in the Phase 3 drilling program. The recent expansion of the Company ground holdings on the TK project will enable us to control critical prospective ground for a possible future large mining operation."
The Company completed drilling 6 additional core holes at TK in 2021 and 2022. The initial discovery hole TK1 was drilled in 2018. A new, high-grade Cu-Au-Ag-Mo body of skarn was discovered in hole TK6, the "Eureka Skarn." The associated intrusive will be searched for in upcoming Phase 3 drilling program.
TK6 was collared 950m NW of TK1, away from the main body of highly magnetic biotitic quartz-monzonite porphyry (QMP). This is the deepest drillhole on the property so far and was stopped at 3,940 ft. At the depth of 1668 ft, it intercepted the mineralized "Eureka Skarn". From 2960 to 3930 ft depth, the drillhole went through a strongly mineralized magnetite-pyrrhotite-chalcopyrite skarn with scattered molybdenite. Cu-Mo-Au-Ag mineralization in the 970 ft interval graded an average of 0.03 g/t Au, 3 g/t Ag, 0.163% Cu, and 0.0093% Mo, including the 230 ft interval from 3220 to 3450 ft where the skarn mineralization assayed 0.06 g/t Au. 5.7 g/t Ag, 0.41% Cu and 0.013% Mo. The highest grade 10 ft interval from 3400-3410 ft assayed over 1% Cu and 0.186 g/t Au, 16.6 g/t Ag, and 58 ppm Mo.
Drillhole TK5 was collared 990m to the NW of TK1. This hole went through a very thick cover of post-mineral lithified fanglomerates 1595 ft (486.2 m) thick. Underneath, it intercepted a mineralized limestone-dolostone skarn that carried 0.078% Cu and 0.006% Mo with minor gold in the 110 ft (33 m) interval starting at 2670 ft (905 m). At depth of 2780 ft (847 m), the drillhole was terminated still in mineralized skarn due to a fault zone causing drilling complications.
TK3 was situated at 570 m WNW of hole TK1 and was drilled at 70 degrees angle to the SW. It presented a big drilling challenge and consequently was lost at 2034 ft (620 m). It crossed from lithified fanglomerate into a skarnified dolomite at 1452 ft (442.6 m), and into QMP at 1844 ft (562 m). Both QMP and skarn are mineralized with copper in QMP at 0.03% in the upper block and 0.02% in the QMP below. In a shorter interval, a 25 ft (7.6 m) section of skarn yielded 0.06% Cu and 0.01% Mo, whereas a 30 ft (9.1 m) interval in the lower block from 1950 ft (594.4 m) to 1980 ft (603.5 m) carried predominantly molybdenum mineralization with Cu at 0.02% and Mo at 0.084%. The hole was stopped in mineralization due to a drilling failure.
Drillhole was collared 36 m NNE of TK3, and went through a lithified fanglomerate cover of 1430 ft (435.9 m) thick, where it intercepted a mineralized quartz-monzonite porphyry intrusion with occasional blocks of skarnified dolomites from 1659 ft (505.7 m) to 1867 ft (569.1 m). From 1428 ft (435.3 m) to 2870 ft (874.8 m), the 1442 ft-long (440 m) interval carried weak copper-molybdenum mineralization, with 0.02% Cu, and 0.008% Mo. Molybdenum increased with depth from 2260 ft (688.8 m) to 3652 ft (1113.1 m). At 1392 ft (428 m) it averaged 0.018% Mo and 0.011% Cu.
This drill hole was a near duplicate of TK1, 29 m to the southeast of TK1, and was drilled in mid-2021. Drilling in TK2 went down to 2000 ft (609.6 m). At depth of 645 ft (196.6 m), it intercepted the biotite-quartz-monzonite porphyry intrusion with argillic (phyllic) alteration and weak sulfide mineralization (predominantly pyrite) in the interval of 1614 ft (491.9 m) to 2000 ft (609.6 m). In the upper part from 645 ft (196.6 m) to 1205 ft (367.3 m) the mineralization is oxidized. Assay results indicate the anomalous presence of gold and the weak presence of copper in the 234 ft-long intervals (71 m) from 1434 to 1668 ft at 0.01 g/t Au and 0.02% Cu. In the shorter distance from 1434 to 1470 ft (36 ft total) yielding 0.07% Cu and 0.006% Mo.
TK-4 was collared 146 m SSE of hole TK1 and was drilled northward at 80 degree angle. And completed to a depth of 1445 ft (440 m), where drilling problems forced termination of the hole. No significant visual copper mineralization was observed hence no assay samples were taken.
A petrographic study of the ore and host rock samples indicated that dominant hydrothermal alteration in the mineralization drilled so far is hosted by sericitic alteration with spotty potassic zones and most drilling has been done in the phyllic zone of the system. Upper part of the porphyry intrusion shows evidence of subvolcanic textures indicating that the porphyry system at TK is preserved. The main copper core zone remains to be found. Phase 3 drilling will be testing the possibility of this zone in the eastern part of the TK intrusions cluster.
The Company conducted additional age dating studies on molybdenum from both Cu-Mo mineralization in the intrusion (sample from drillhole TK3a) and Cu-Au-Mo mineralization in the Eureka skarn (sample from drillhole TK6). The study was conducted at the Department of Geosciences of University of Arizona at the Re-Os Geochronology Lab. The results indicated that molybdenite within the intrusion showed an age of 140.96±0.70 Ma, whereas from skarn 79.50±0.40 Ma. This has been interpreted as the porphyry system at TK being a dynamic system with multiple phases of mineralization. Our original studies of the biotitic QMP intrusion led to U-Pb dates on zircon of 156 and 152.7±0.7 Ma.