Benchmark Metals mobilizes drill rig to Marmot and Marmot East at Lawyers project

Benchmark Metals Inc said it is set to start drilling at the Marmot and Marmot East targets at the company's flagship Lawyers project in British Columbia in a bid to generate more near-suface gold and silver ounces. The firm is planning 12,500 metres (m) of exploration drilling at Marmot to follow up on last year's discovery hole, which hit 101.00m grading 0.82 grams per ton (g/t) gold-equivalent, including an intercept of 18m of 2.5 g/t gold. Benchmark said that 2,500m was planned at the adjacent Marmot East target. Benchmark Metals kicks off definition drilling, resource expansion at its Lawyers project in British Columbia "The global 2021 drill program will add significant ounces to a future updated mineral resource estimate," said John Williams, Benchmark CEO in a statement. "There is significant potential to add additional gold-silver ounces from the exploration drilling to expand known zones and make new discoveries. The Marmot targets have significant potential to generate gold and silver ounces of the same scope and scale as the Cliff Creek deposit. Drilling continues at the main deposits (Cliff Creek, Duke's and AGB) where visuals from logged core show significant mineralization in expansion holes located outside of the pit constrained resource areas," he added. The Marmot and Marmot East targets sit within the same northwest-southeast trending structural corridor interpreted as being a significant geological control on mineralization at Cliff Creek. Benchmark has already defined a bulk-tonnage target at Cliff Creek in the range of 1.68 to 1.92 million ounces (Moz) of gold equivalent. The company is focused on developing the substantial resource potential of its huge Lawyers asset, which sits in the prolific Golden Horseshoe of northern British Columbia. The asset consists of three mineralized deposits that remain open for expansion, as well as more than 20 new target areas along a 20-kilometre trend. Contact the author at giles@proactiveinvestors.com