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| Even though central Newfoundland has recently become a red-hot gold discovery region, it started as one of the most important critical minerals destinations.
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| And the lion’s share of those critical minerals came from the famed Buchans Mine, which operated from the 1930s to the 1980s as a high-grade underground operation.
Low metals prices and dwindling resources eventually shuttered the mine, and while a couple of different operators have tried to breathe new life into the deposit, none has been fully successful.
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| That looks like it may change with new operator Canterra Minerals (CTM.V; CTMCF.OTC).
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| The company has inherited a large, lower-grade copper-zinc resource and sees the opportunity to use drilling to outline a higher-grade zone that can make the economics of mining that existing resource shine.
Here’s the thing: Canterra has just completed at 2,000-meter drill program to test for that higher grade zone to the east and southwest of the deposit.
As you’re about to see, high-grade results seem likely and imminent, making now a perfect time to take a closer look at Canterra Minerals.
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| Buchans: A Juggernaut Of A Mine
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| In its nearly 60 years of operation, the mine at Buchans produced 16.2 million tonnes of 14.5% zinc, 7.6% lead, 1.3% copper, 1.37 g/t gold and 126 g/t silver.
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| That production allowed the entire province of Newfoundland to grow and created the infrastructure in the central part of the province that the current gold rush is relying on to develop that part of the area’s mineral endowment.
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| After shutting down in the 1980s, successive operators have outlined a deposit at Buchans of 17.2 million tonnes (indicated and inferred) of 1.1% copper-equivalent containing 158.5 million pounds of copper and 583.3 million pounds of zinc.
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| Looking For A Buchans-Style Deposit
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| With that deposit in place, Canterra Minerals is actively looking for a new, higher-grade deposit that can crack the code of developing the existing resource.
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| The company’s recent 2,000-meter drill program has tested to the east and southwest of the mineralized zone at Buchans, probing the two-kilometer-long mine trend that produced 12 million tonnes of 28% combined base metals (copper, zinc and lead) during the mine’s heyday.
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| The current program is, in part, drilling just outside the resource to expand it and bring in mineralization beyond the pit walls.
Thus, it’s the kind of “high confidence” program that could soon produce high-grade results that remind that market that this resource is still very much open for growth.
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| The Big Potential:
Clementine
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| The current drill results should help move the needle for Canterra, but the home-run program — the one that could open up a whole new chapter for the company and the entire region — will happen next year.
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| That’s when Canterra will drill the Clementine target, a target with all the markings of the original high-grade zone at Buchans, but buried under significant cover.
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| As you can see from the map below, Clementine is located to the west of the main resource area.
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| Click image to enlarge
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| Canterra has traced a potential trend between Clementine and Clementine West that could well host the next high-grade deposit at Buchans.
The company is relying on AI to digitize the monumental amount of drill core — 400,000 meters — that has been drilled at Buchans. This is a rich data set that is tailor-made for AI.
Canterra is optimistic that the technology can help it home in on the next big find at Buchans.
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| Betting On The Consolidation Of A Critical Minerals District
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| In attempting to breathe new life into Buchans, Canterra Minerals is working to revive an entire critical minerals district.
The company has acquired a number of smaller deposits in central Newfoundland that could eventually feed a hub-and-spoke model of development.
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| This would be in keeping with large VMS systems like the one anchored by Buchans. Throughout the world, these systems tend to be led by one big deposit which is then surrounded by a series of smaller VMS deposits.
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| As the map below makes clear, the Lundberg deposit at Buchans offsets Canterra’s myriad other projects in the region.
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| Click image to enlarge
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| Good results from the recent drilling at Buchans could wake the market up to the district-scale potential the company has locked up here.
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| Longer term, it’s not hard to see a new, high-grade discovery at Buchans driving a hub-and-spoke development model with these various deposits.
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| For those who like the potential for copper and zinc to excel in the metals market just ahead, Canterra Minerals deserves your due diligence today.
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| CLICK HERE
To Learn More About Canterra Minerals Corp.
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