Pacific Ridge Exploration (PEX.V) is coming out of its Christmas break with the assay results of the final three diamond holes that were drilled on the Kliyul copper-gold porphyry project as part of its 2023 drill program. All three holes intersected the copper-gold mineralization, but two of them really piqued our interest.
We like hole 68 for its thickness and grade. The drill bit intersected almost 456 meters containing 0.43% copper-equivalent (consisting of 0.17% copper and 0.37 g/t gold) starting at a depth of just over 87 meters while ending in mineralization. As you may remember from previous updates, our biggest issue with Kliyul so far was that the average grade encountered in the previous drill programs was a little bit light but finding this thick interval of almost half a kilometer at 0.43% CuEq including 227 meters of 0.63% CuEq (starting at 243 meters down hole) will go a long way to adding tonnage while providing a grade boost. So yes, we are happy with hole 68.
Although hole 69 had a lower average grade, the location of that hole is interesting. As you can see below, it is located towards the edge of the mineralized envelope and encountering approximately 570 meters of pretty continuous mineralization is excellent.
While the average grade of 0.27% CuEq over the entire 570 meter interval isn’t great, there are some very encouraging intercepts with for instanc almost 48 meters at 0.50% CuEq and 64 meters containing 0.39% CuEq (and that 64 meter interval started at about 127 meter down hole).
These were the final assay results of Pacific Ridge’s largest drill program to date, completing in excess of 10,000 meters of drilling in 16 holes. Given the positive nature of the drill results and the strong results in holes 68 and 69 all the way at the end of the drill program, we have very little doubt the company can’t wait for the exploration season to start again. Pacific Ridge promised to unveil its 2024 exploration plans by the end of this quarter.
Disclosure: The author has a long position in Pacific Ridge Exploration. Pacific Ridge is a sponsor of the website. Please read the disclaimer.
