The indicated resource count at Tudor Gold’s (TSXV: TUD) flagship Treaty Creek project in British Columbia has grown by 19% in terms of gold-equivalent (AuEq) ounces following last year’s drill program targeting the norther portion of the Goldstorm deposit.
Located in the Golden Triangle region of BC, the 179 sq. km Treaty Creek property is said to host one of the largest gold discoveries in decades in Goldstorm. The deposit consists of six mineral domains with unique geological characteristics, five of which are gold dominant with lesser proportions of silver and copper. Domain CS-600 is dominantly gold and copper rich, with lesser silver.
An updated resource estimate published Tuesday showed 27.87 million oz. of AuEq within 730.2 million tonnes at a grade of 1.19 g/t AuEq. The contained metal breaks down into 21.7 million oz. of gold, 128.7 million oz. of silver and 2.9 billion lb. of copper at grades of 0.92 g/t, 5.48 g/t and 0.18% respectively. This equates to a 16% increase in gold, 14% increase in silver and 32% increase in copper content from the previous resource estimate almost a year ago.
The CS-600 domain, which forms a large part of the deposit and consists of a well-defined intrusive porphyry system, has an indicated mineral resource of 15.7 million oz. of AuEq within 400.3 million tonnes at 1.22 g/t AuEq. Included within the domain is a gold resource of nearly 10 million oz. at 0.78 g/t and copper of 2.7 billion lb. at 0.31%. The CS-600 resource has risen by 58% since last year’s update.
There is also an inferred resource of 6.0 million oz. AuEq within 149.6 million tonnes at 1.25 g/t AuEq, comprising 4.9 million oz. of gold at 1.01 g/t, 29.0 million oz. of silver at 6.02 g/t and 503.2 million lb. of copper at 0.15%.
Commenting on the 2023 drilling to expand the Goldstorm deposit, Tudor’s CEO Ken Konkin said: “We not only pushed out the edges of the deposit, but we also successfully increased the grade of the inferred mineral resource.”
The 2023 inferred mineral resource was initially at 7.35 million oz. of AuEq grading 0.98 g/t AuEq, but the Tudor team was able to convert some of those ounces to the indicated category and increase the grade of the current inferred mineral resource.
“The higher gold-equivalent grades in the inferred category strongly suggests that we have not yet passed through the strongest portion of the Goldstorm mineralized system. We hope that the 2024 drill program can give us clear information about the configuration and boundaries of the deposit, as it remains open in all directions and at depth,” he added.
The company will continue its work to expand the gold-silver-copper porphyry mineralizing system at Goldstorm with the view of outlining its economic viability. Tudor currently owns 60% of the project.
Shares of Tudor Gold rose by 6.2% to C$0.85 as of 12:30 p.m. ET, giving the Canadian junior explorer a market capitalization of C$194.7 million.
