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Big deposits in safe mining jurisdictions are increasingly in demand these days.
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That’s particularly true of the large, porphyry-style deposits that provide a large portion of the world’s copper and a good bit of its gold as well.
Unfortunately, many of the world’s largest porphyry deposits reside in countries that are increasingly voting in leftist, anti-mining governments...so big miners are looking elsewhere to fill their requirements for new deposits.
One of the primary targets is the uber-safe mining jurisdiction of British Columbia, where copper-gold porphyries are continuing to draw attention from the majors.
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It’s the ideal situation for Pacific Ridge Exploration (PEX.V; PEXZF.OTC), which controls five copper-gold projects in a mining-rich area of the province...including two growing discoveries.
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As you’re about to see, the drills are turning up long intervals of copper-gold mineralization on these projects, with the potential for much more to come in the days ahead.
Given the ongoing need for majors to fill their reserve coffers with large deposits, continued success could attract a takeout bid.
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Kliyul:
The Flagship Project Poised To Grow Significantly
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For Pacific Ridge, it starts with the company’s Kliyul project in British Columbia’s Quesnel Trough, a geologic structure that runs along the spine of the central portion of the province.
The Quesnel Trough is a veritable beehive of activity, with a past-producing porphyry mine at Kemess South, a feasibility-stage porphyry at Kemess North, the producing Mt. Milligan Mine, and several exploration-stage projects.
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Pacific Ridge believes Kliyul has the potential to match the other major copper-gold porphyry deposits in the region — and that potential is being bolstered by recent drill results.
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The prior drilling at Kliyul was mostly shallow, but the few deeper holes showed the possibility for the mineralization to extend to depth.
That theory was proven when Pacific Ridge’s first drill program in 2021 turned up three 300-meter or better intervals of copper-gold mineralization.
This success led to this year’s 12-hole, 7,014-meter program, the largest ever at Kliyul.
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So far, each one of the first six assays released have hit copper-gold mineralization, topped by Hole 41 (278 meters of 0.67% copper-equivalent within 588.0 meters of 0.41% copper equivalent).
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These results expanded the current zone of mineralization at Kliyul to 550 meters by 200 meters and to 600 meters vertical depth.
Bottom line: This is an already-large area of mineralization that could grow much larger with the next drill program.
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RDP:
The Longest,
Highest-Grade Interval Ever
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Another target that saw drilling in 2022 was the company’s RDP project.
Pacific Ridge optioned this project to a subsidiary of Chilean major Antofagasta, which can acquire a 75% interest in RDP by spending $10 million over eight years and delivering a preliminary economic assessment on the project.
This joint venture deal funded a drill program at RDP in 2022, which assessed the project for porphyry mineralization on both the Roy and Day targets.
The results of this program were nothing short of fantastic, with Hole 5 drilled on Day returning the longest, highest-grade interval ever at RDP.
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Hole 5 cut a massive interval of 497.2 meters of 0.66% copper-equivalent, including 107.2 meters of 1.41% copper-equivalent.
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Continued long-intervals of copper-gold mineralization at RDP could provide a nice boost to Pacific Ridge’s share price, even given the joint venture deal.
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Grades That Compare Favorably
With Mines And Deposits In the Area
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One thing you’ll notice with both the Kliyul and RDP assays is that the intervals are long, but the grades are modest.
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That’s actually just fine with porphyry deposits, as long as the scale of the deposit is sufficient.
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Indeed, the recent and historical holes at Kliyul compare very favorably with other copper-gold deposits in British Columbia.
For instance, Hole 41 from Kliyul yielded a copper-equivalent-grade of 0.67% and a gold-equivalent grade of 0.92 g/t.
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By comparison, the reserves for the active Mt. Milligan mine have an average grade of 0.45% copper equivalent or 0.62 g/t gold equivalent.
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Essentially, if the scale warrants it, a major will have no problem snapping up a copper-gold porphyry with grades like Kliyul’s.
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The Right Time To Look For
Copper-Gold Deposits In BC
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And snapping up copper-gold projects is exactly what majors are doing in British Columbia.
With South America’s political risk increasing, British Columbia is attracting a lot more attention from the world’s biggest miners.
This fact is borne out by Newmont’s recent $450 million acquisition of GT Gold for its Saddle North deposit in BC and Freeport’s decision to spend $110 million to earn a 70% interest in the Joy copper-gold district.
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Simply put, if Pacific Ridge can continue to outline a large, copper-gold porphyry at Kliyul, it could start a lucrative bidding war for the project, and possibly the company as a whole.
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Should that happen, those who invest in Pacific Ridge Exploration at or near current levels could soon be very glad they did.
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