Gladiator reports high-grade copper at Cowley Park in Yukon

Gladiator Metals (TSXV: GLAD; US-OTC: GDTRF) has intersected shallow copper skarn mineralization in its first drill program at the Cowley Park prospect, part of its Whitehorse Copper project in the Yukon.

Initial assay results for seven of the 14-hole (2,632-metre) drill program completed on May 19, returned “significant intercepts” and the mineralization remains open along strike and in all directions, the company said in a release on Monday.

Highlights included 16 metres grading 2.3% copper from 79 metres downhole within a broader interval of 92 metres grading 0.71% copper in drill hole CP-006; and 13 metres of 1.44% copper and 0.15% molybdenum starting from 28 metres and 33 metres grading 1.48% copper from 71 metres within 113 metres of 0.79% copper in CP-002.

Other notable results were 13.2 metres of 2.26% copper from 22.8 metres in drill hole CP-003 and 20 metres of 1.43% copper from 42 metres within 71 metres of 0.72% copper in drill hole CP-001.

A second, 2,000-metre drill program is scheduled to start in July, and the company also plans to continue its work logging and assaying about 10,000 metres of unassayed core from exploration drilling by previous owners in recent years.

In addition, it plans to assay for molybdenum, gold, silver and other elements that were not systematically assayed for in the past, as well as incorporate any lower grade mineralized material within or adjacent to significant mineralized widths that typically weren’t assayed previously in order to assess the project’s modern bulk mining potential. 

According to Gladiator, the company has identified more than 800 historic drill holes, which were logged and selectively assayed. The holes were drilled by Hudson Bay Mining & Smelting Co., Yankee Hat Minerals, Lobo Del Norte and Vendor H. Coyne & Sons, which were logged and selectively assayed.

Gladiator Metals acquired the option to earn 100% of the project in November 2022 and closed the transaction in February. Under the deal Gladiator must spend $12 million on exploration. In addition, it must pay $300,000 in cash in staged payments and issue a total of 15 million shares over a six-year period.

The project is located about 25 km from Whitehorse.

Shares of Gladiator were trading 3.4% higher in mid-afternoon trading at 61¢ per share, where they remained on Tuesday morning. Over the past year the company has traded in a range of 10¢ and 73¢. It has about 29 million common shares outstanding for a market cap of roughly $18 million.