Callinex discovers new silver zone at Nash Creek

Drilling at Callinex Mines’ (TSXV: CNX; US-OTC: CLLXF) 118-sq.-km Nash Creek project in the Bathurst mining district of New Brunswick has encountered a new zone of silver mineralization, 9.6 km away from the deposit, as well as a new area of near-surface zinc and lead, 1.3 km to the west of existing resources.

The company has released the results of five drill holes: 19-306 returned 19 metres of 36.53 grams silver per tonne, 0.38% zinc and 0.52% lead starting at a depth of 34 metres. In addition, three drill holes – 19-309, 19-310 and 19-311 – intersected zinc and lead mineralization over a 1.1-km-long trend within the Central Zone area of the project. Drill highlights included 1 metre of 3.55% zinc, 0.35% lead and 5 grams silver in 19-309 and 6 metres of 2.23% zinc, 0.36% lead and 17.83 grams silver in 19-310.

“The near-surface discovery highlights the prospectivity of the Nash Creek project and requires immediate followup to drill test the extent of the mineralization,” Max Porterfield, the company’s president and CEO, said in a news release.

Porterfield added that all three of the drill holes completed over the 1.1-km-long strike intercepted zinc and lead mineralization at grades above the cut-offs established in a preliminary economic assessment (PEA) for the project published in 2018.

The discovered silver zone is in the southern part of the project and lies within a magnetic low that extends from the Nash Creek deposit for 11 km to the south.

The three drill holes that intercepted zinc-lead mineralization targeted the Central Zone geophysical anomaly and intersected formations similar to those within the existing Nash Creek deposit. Callinex has outlined an additional anomaly 4 km to the south of the Central Zone for additional followup.

The Nash Creek deposit is made up of three shallow sulphide lenses that cover over 2.1 km of strike and remain open. Indicated resources at Nash Creek include 13.6 million indicated tonnes at 2.68% zinc, 0.58% lead and 17.8 grams silver for a total of 963.4 million lb. zinc-equivalent. Inferred resources consist of 5.9 million tonnes grading 2.68% zinc, 0.47% lead and 13.9 grams silver containing a further 407.1 million lb. zinc-equivalent. The resources were estimated using a cut-off grade of 1.5% zinc-equivalent.

A PEA completed in 2018 for Nash Creek outlines a 10-year open pit mine, producing an average of 76.7 million lb. zinc, 14.6 million lb. lead and 400,000 oz. silver annually in concentrate at operating costs of $30.94 per tonne. With an initial capital cost estimate of $168.3 million, the after-tax net present value estimate for the project, at an 8% discount rate, comes in at $127.6 million.

Callinex also holds the Superjack project, which includes a zinc-lead-silver-copper deposit, also within the Bathurst mining district in northeast New Brunswick.

— This article first appeared in the Canadian Mining Journal.