Selkirk Copper’s drilling expands Minto high-grade zone

Selkirk Copper Mines (TSX-V: SCMI) said fresh drilling at the past-producing Minto copper-gold-silver mine in the Yukon has expanded a previously identified high-grade mineralized area in the property’s northwest zone.

Hole 25SCM001 cut 23 metres grading 2.39% copper, 0.32 grams gold per tonne and 11.61 grams silver from 226 metres depth, Selkirk said Monday in a statement. This included 8.7 metres grading 5.21% copper, 0.47 gram gold per tonne and 26.68 grams silver from 228.85 metres downhole.

Drill results “have met, and in several areas exceeded, our expectations, returning high grades of copper, as well as gold and silver,” CEO Colin Joudrie said in the statement. “It’s exciting to see this initial drilling intersecting high-grade mineralization and expanding the footprint of the mineralized Minto North West zone by over 90%.”

Selkirk Copper, Canada’s only First Nations-controlled miner, is working towards a potential restart decision for Minto sometime in 2027. Having acquired the project from bankruptcy earlier this year, it’s carrying out a 50,000-metre drilling program – the first four assays of which were released Monday.

Shares of Selkirk Copper rose 3.4% to 46¢ Monday morning in Toronto, giving the company a market value of about $58 million. The stock has traded between 42¢ and 75¢ in the past year.

System continuity

Drilling at Minto, which began Aug. 23 with a single rig, has returned grade and thicknesses comparable to historical 2021 and 2022 intersections. This confirms the continuity of the Minto North system, the company says.

As of late November, crews had completed about 26,000 metres of drilling across 98 holes. This includes 7,632 metres in the North West zone.

Other notable results include hole 25SCM002, which cut 31.6 metres grading 1.53% copper, 0.93 gram gold and 6.76 grams silver from 218 metres depth. This included 9.5 metres at 3.73% copper, 2.56 grams gold and 17.9 grams silver from 240 metres downhole.

Another hole, 25SCM003, cut 42.6 metres of 0.5% copper, 0.18 gram gold and 2.05 grams silver from 220 metres depth. This included 15.8 metres of 0.74% copper, 0.29 gram gold and 3.03 grams silver from about 246 metres downhole.

Historical producer

Selkirk Copper expects to have completed up to 34,000 metres of drilling by the Christmas break, which is scheduled for Dec. 20. Once work restarts mid-January, the rest of the drilling program should be completed over the following months.

Before shutting down in May 2023, Minto historically produced up to 30,000 tonnes of copper, 35,000 oz. gold and 350,000 oz. silver annually, Selkirk Copper says.

Formerly known as Venerable Ventures, the Vancouver-based company officially changed its name last month. The stock began trading under the new name Nov. 12. Yukon’s Selkirk First Nation owns a controlling stake in the company.

Selkirk Copper controls about 269 sq. km of prospective mineral claims in the Minto-Carmacks copper belt. It also owns open-pit and underground infrastructure, a 4,100 tonne-per-day processing plant, a 400-person camp, water treatment facilities, ancillary buildings and mobile equipment near the former mine.