Canterra Minerals Corp. [TSXV: CTM; OTCQB: CTMCF] reported initial results from the maiden drilling program at its 100%-owned Buchans Project within the Central Newfoundland Mining District.
Canterra holds Newfoundland’s second-largest combined critical minerals inventory with seven resource-stage deposits. The Buchans Project hosts the Lundberg Copper-Zinc-Lead deposit, the largest and most advanced critical minerals deposit within the Central Newfoundland Mining District. In addition, the Buchans Project possesses considerable infrastructure and has previously included mining operations making it an excellent site for future development.
The purpose of the first six holes was to expand the Lundberg deposit as well as provide an initial testing of the Two Level target area located approximately 50 metres northwest of the Lundberg deposit (within the Buchans Project).
Drilling Highlights – Lundberg: 2.25% CuEq over 60.25 m (0.74% Cu, 3.92% Zn, 1.16% Pb, 11.5 g/t Ag & 0.16 g/t Au) from surface in hole H-24-3531, including 3.17% CuEq over 26.00 metres (0.95% Cu, 6.13% Zn, 1.63% Pb, 13.9 g/t Ag and 0.20 g/t Au); 0.90% CuEq over 121.45 metres (0.41% Cu, 1.08% Zn, 0.54% Pb, 4.41 g/t Ag & 0.04 g/t Au) in hole H-24-3527.
Low all-in drill cost of approximately $200/m across 1,600 m program. Results should augment and enhance future resource estimate updates at Lundberg, the largest and most advanced Copper-Zinc-Lead deposit within the Central Newfoundland Mining District.
Results will be incorporated into future VRIFY AI predictive modelling to identify and target mineralization elsewhere on the property.
Assays are pending for the remaining two holes that targeted the area of higher-grade mineralization intersected in hole H-12-3531 as well as to test the central corridor of the Lundberg mineralization where potential remains to extend the deposit both at depth below the 2019 pit shell (165 m) and up to 35 metres north of the current resource inventory.
Chris Pennimpede, President and CEO, commented: “The drill results received to date continue to confirm the value of Lundberg as the foundation asset of the Buchans Project. The 2024 drill program also demonstrates the benefit of ultralow drill costs on the project. This is a testament to the jurisdiction’s infrastructure and mining friendly disposition, establishing Buchans among Canada’s lowest cost jurisdictions to explore and discover new resources. The last resource estimate at the Lundberg deposit was completed in 2019 during a period of lower metal prices, particularly with respect to copper, which is a significant component of this resource. With today’s drill results and improved metal prices, we believe Lundberg has the potential for further expansion and remains a foundation for long-term development of the district with Canterra’s goal to grow from its current ~26 Mt global critical minerals resource base to 40 Mt. We look forward to expanding our exploration efforts in the near term towards the discovery of new high-grade resources comparable to the project’s historical production that established Buchans as one of the world’s highest grade volcanogenic massive sulphide mining districts.”
The Buchans Project is an advanced critical minerals project hosting significant undeveloped mineral deposits adjacent to the past producing Buchans Mine. This brownfield project covers 83.25 square kilometres near the town of Buchans and hosts the past producing Buchans mine operated by Asarco from 1928 to 1984. The project also hosts the undeveloped Lundberg deposit, a VMS stockwork sulphide deposit comprising a large, near-surface resource located beneath and adjacent to workings of the previously mined, high-grade Lucky Strike massive sulphide orebody.
At Lucky Strike, Asarco is reported to have mined 5.6 million tonnes of high-grade ore averaging 18.4% Zn, 8.6% Pb, 1.6% Cu, 112 g/t Ag & 1.7 g/t Au. Lucky Strike’s historic production is a significant portion of the former Buchans Mine’s past production that is reported to have totaled 16.2 million tonnes averaging 14.5% Zn, 7.6% Pb, 1.3% Cu, 1.37 g/t Au and 126 g/t Ag mined from five orebodies.
Lundberg’s Resource Estimate includes In-pit Indicated Mineral Resources containing 156 million pounds Cu, 566 million pounds Zn, 237 million pounds Pb, 3.1 million ounces Ag, and 37,000 ounces Au as well as In-pit Inferred Mineral Resources totaling 380,000 tonnes containing 3.0 million pounds Cu, 17 million pounds Zn, 9 million pounds Pb, 270,000 ounces Ag, & 38,000 ounces Au) and assigns 97.8% of the In-Pit resources to the Indicated category.
Canterra is a diversified minerals exploration company focused on critical minerals and gold in central Newfoundland. The company’s projects include six mineral deposits located in close proximity to the world-renowned, past producing Buchans mine and Teck Resources’ former Duck Pond mine that collectively produced copper, zinc, lead, silver and gold.
Several of Canterra’s deposits support historical Mineral Resource Estimates prepared in accordance with NI 43-101 standards.
Canterra’s gold projects are located on-trend of Calibre Mining’s Valentine mine currently under construction and cover a ~60 km extension of the same structural corridor that hosts mineralization within Calibre’s mine project. Past drilling by Canterra and others within the company’s gold projects intersected multiple occurrences of orogenic style gold mineralization within a large land position that remains underexplored.
