Program successfully doubles the strike length of Southern Silver Zone mineralization Presence of elevated critical minerals suggest closer proximity to heat source Regional exploration identifies new high-priority district targets
CHICAGO--BUSINESS WIRE--
Coeur Mining, Inc. ("Coeur" or the "Company") (NYSE: CDE) today provided initial results of its 2024 exploration program at its wholly-owned Silvertip polymetallic critical minerals exploration project in northern British Columbia, which included the most extensive surface program completed by Coeur since acquiring the property in 2017.
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Figure 1: Plan view map showing location of 2024 diamond drillholes. (Graphic: Business Wire)
The 48-hole program, totaling approximately $12 million and over 68,000 feet (nearly 21,000 meters) of drilling, achieved its three priorities of: (i) drilling from underground to grow the known resource along-strike and down-dip; (ii) drilling large step-out holes on major structures to increase the deposit's footprint for future resource growth; and (iii) conducting district-scale field work to identify other structures similar to Silvertip with potential to host large ore bodies.
"Silvertip's three-pronged 2024 exploration strategy successfully expanded known areas of mineralization doubled the strike length of the Southern Silver Zone to over 2,000 meters, and identified three new large targets located on our over 50,000 hectare (over 125,000 acre) land package," said Mitchell J. Krebs, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. "We anticipate continued exploration success in 2025 as we seek to expand the size and enhance our knowledge of this world-class deposit. We remain enthusiastic about Silvertip's potential to become a future high-quality source of growth for the Company and an important future source of Canadian-based critical minerals."
Key Highlights1,2
- Continued growth adjacent to the current resource - Drilling from underground extended the Southern Silver Zone by approximately 1,150 feet (350 meters) along strike and the Saddle Zone by roughly 280 feet (85 meters) along strike. Notable assay results include:
Southern Silver Zone
- Hole 65Z23-485-012-029: 22.3 feet at 3.61 ounces per ton ("oz/t") (5.8 meters at 123.7 grams per tonne ("g/t")) silver, 2.0% lead, and 1.84% zinc
- Hole 65Z23-485-009-005: 36.9 feet at 1.38 oz/t (11.3 meters at 47.4 g/t) silver, 0.36% lead, and 9.85% zinc
- Hole 65Z23-485-012-031: 14.8 feet at 23.17 oz/t (4.5 meters at 794.2 g/t) silver, 14.62% lead, and 12.32% zinc
Saddle Zone
- Hole SDZ24-485-015-001: 21.7 feet at 2.75 oz/t (6.6 meters at 94.5 g/t) silver, 0.91% lead, and 13.98% zinc
- Hole SDZ23-485-013-017: 25.6 feet at 1.89 oz/t (7.8 meters at 64.9 g/t) silver, 0.31% lead, and 15.07% zinc, and 13.8 feet at 10.53 oz/t (4.2 meters at 361.1 g/t) silver, 6.66% lead, 5.75% zinc
- Hole SDZ23-485-013-021: 11.2 feet 3.25 oz/t (3.4 meters at 133.4 g/t) silver, 1.68% lead, 10.77% zinc
- Hole SDZ23-PAD-007-003: 22.8 feet at 5.91 oz/t (7.0 meters at 202.5 g/t) silver, 4.58% lead, and 7.0% zinc
- Large drill step-outs on the Southern Silver Zone confirm mineralization up to 1,000 meters along strike, highlighting considerable growth potential - All five surface step-out holes were drilled up to 1,000 meters from the boundary comprising the 2023 resource and intersected significant visual massive sulfide mineralization. To date, assays have been received for two holes:
- Hole SSZ24-Pad34-001: 17.6 feet at 3.47 oz/t (5.4 meters at 119.1 g/t) silver, 2.79% lead, and 8.89% zinc
- Hole SSZ24-Pad34-002: 26.3 feet at 5.76 oz/t (8.0 meters at 197.5 g/t) silver, 2.94% lead, and 3.93% zinc, and 26.6 feet at 0.33 oz/t (8.12 meters at 11.3 g/t) silver, 0.11% lead, and 13.37% zinc
The assay values for copper, gold, tin, gallium, and indium suggest hotter hydrothermal fluids and proximity to a heat source. High concentrations of silver, zinc, and lead, along with critical metals, indicate multiple stages of mineralization that are typical of Carbonate Replacement Deposit (CRD) systems like Silvertip.
- District exploration identified three high-priority targets showing geological similarities to Silvertip - The district-wide program included geophysical surveys over approximately 37,000 hectares (91,000 acres) to improve understanding of the geology and structure, which are primary factors controlling mineralization at Silvertip. Fieldwork included helicopter-supported reconnaissance geological mapping, as well as rock, soil and stream sediment geochemical surveys. Mapping has confirmed all areas have the same geological setting as the Silvertip deposit. Following on from the results of this work, Coeur secured an option from CMC Metals Ltd ("CMC Metals") on approximately 10,000 hectares of additional prospective ground adjacent to Silvertip's current land package.
"The initial results of our 2024 drilling program have already successfully identified three high priority targets that show grades and geology similar to the Silvertip Carbonate Replacement Deposit (CRD) mineralization," said Aoife McGrath, Senior Vice President of Exploration. "Our district-scale evaluation, including geophysical surveys plus stream and soil geochemical surveys, have set the groundwork for upcoming field programs and are already providing an enhanced understanding of regional geology and structure, in addition to the recognition of new possible mineralization centers. We expect other targets to emerge from this year's program as results are received, and I am confident that 2025 will be another very exciting year at Silvertip as we continue to explore and develop Silvertip as an emerging Tier 1 CRD District."
For a complete table of all year-to-date 2024 drill results, including previously unpublished results from late 2023 drilling, please refer to the following link: https://www.coeur.com/files/doc_
