Recent testing from progressive drilling at Gladiator Metals’ (TSXV: GLAD; US-OTC: GDTRF) Whitehorse project in the Yukon shows that the Cub East discovery is a developed, high-grade copper-gold-silver concentrate within the Bear Cub trend.
Spotlight hole BCG-035 cut 32 meters grading 1.36% copper, 0.63 grams gold per tonne and 10.93 grams silver from a depth of 178 metres, including 18 meters grading 2.12% copper, 1.06 grams gold and 16.33 grams silver, Gladiator reported on Wednesday.
Another strong hole – BCG-024 – returned 32.7 meters grading 1.06% copper, 0.44 grams gold and 6.37 grams silver from 176.73 metres, including 7.3 meters grading 2.47% copper, 1.45 grams gold and 15.09 grams silver. The results extend the continuity of high-quality hitting out to over 300 meters at Cub targets just south of the Yukon capital.
“Cub East continues to deliver exactly the type of results we want to see from a rapidly emerging high-grade copper, gold and silver discovery,” Gladiator CEO Jason Bontempo said in a statement.
Whitehorse belt potential
Cub East is Gladiator’s latest discovery in the historic Whitehorse copper belt, with successful drilling building a case that the area hosts more mineralization than previously recognized. Gladiator has been boosted by a $35 million exploration investment from asset management firm BlackRock last month.
Gladiator shares rose 3% to $3.19 a share Wednesday morning in Toronto, valuing the company at about $325 million. The stock has traded in a 12-month range of 76 cents to $3.86.
Other noteworthy assays came from hole BCG-030, which returned 38 meters grading 1.2% copper, 0.43 grams gold and 10.29 grams silver from a depth of 168 metres, including 15.1 meters grading 2.41% copper, 0.93 grams gold and 18.85 grams silver.
The company drilled 5,406 meters across 18 holes in the Cub East area. The rigs have target extensions to dip down and up and strike through a 900-metre synchronous gravity cross and create a polarization geophysical anomaly, Gladiator said.
Definition of basic mineral
The results identify a strong mineral core bounded by interpreted faults to the east and west. To the east, the system is interpreted as stepping down, highlighting depth and additional expansion potential. Geological models suggest that mineralization may be progressing westward, bringing the system closer to the surface and possibly connecting the previously mined Black Cub South open pit.
Gladiator is conducting resource definition drilling at the Cowley target, north of Cub Trends, and plans to increase drilling to more than 50,000 meters across the entire Whitehorse project, Bontempo said.
“Gladiator is exceptionally well positioned to provide a steady stream of exploration news and continue to deliver high-quality, near-surface copper and gold results in one of Canada’s most infrastructure-rich historic copper regions,” he added.
Exploration and mining development has occurred intermittently in the area since copper mineralization was first discovered in 1897. The main production period of the Whitehorse Copper Belt lasted from 1967 to 1982, producing 267.5 million pounds of copper, 225,000 ounces. Gold and 2.84 million ounces. Silver from 11.1 million tons of crushed ore, according to Yukon Geological Survey figures cited by Gladiator.
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