Formation drill program under way at Black Pine

Drilling is under way at the Black Pine property, 17 miles southwest of Salmon, Idaho.

Formation Capital (VSE), the owner, plans to drill 12 holes for a total of about 5,000 ft. A large, stratabound, copper-cobalt-gold, exhalative massive sulphide system is being tested.

The drilling will test 1,500-2,000 ft. of the system’s known 6,000-ft. strike length and 300 ft. of width. In the 1950s, the U.S. government completed 4,500 ft. of underground workings on two levels over 1,200 ft. of the strike length.

The work outlined preliminary reserves of about 580,000 tons grading 3.5% copper to a depth of 200 ft. The reserve estimate covers only two of the seven horizons identified to date.

Formation acquired a lease on Black Pine last year. The ground had been unavailable for option for more than 20 years and, consequently, no diamond drilling or geophysical surveys have been conducted.