Mining News: Zackly resource drilling begins

Coventry Resources Ltd. and Millrock Resources Inc. Aug. 28 announced the start of a 3,000-meter drill program at Stellar, a copper-gold project along the south slopes of the Alaska Range. The drilling is focused on Zackly, a skarn deposit with a historical resource of 1.54 million metric tons grading 4.5 grams per metric ton (218,944 oz) gold and 2.9 percent (66.9 million pounds) copper. Millrock, which recently exchanged its interest in Stellar for a 10.6 percent equity stake in Coventry, is executing the the 2017 program. With two rigs turning on the property, Coventry and Millrock plan to drill around 25 holes aimed at upgrading the historical Zackly resource to Australian Joint Ore Reserves Committee (JORC) mineral reporting standards, which is similar to National Instrument 43-101 standards in Canada. To accomplish this, one rig will drill roughly twelve holes through the known deposit. A second drill will test potential expansions of the deposit where induced polarization surveys indicate extensions of the skarn mineralization. Coventry also owns the Caribou Dome copper deposit, a high-grade copper project immediately southwest of Stellar. The main deposit at Copper Dome hosts 2.8 million metric tons of total resource (measured, indicated and inferred) averaging 3.1 percent (190 million lb) copper. This year, Coventry is completing detailed geological mapping and structural interpretation of outcrop and drill core at the Caribou Dome deposit. Baseline environmental studies are being carried out at Zackly and Caribou Dome in anticipation of moving the combined project toward a pre-feasibility study in 2018. After acquiring Stellar, raising AU$5.5-million and consolidating its shares, Coventry is now in the process of a name change. The company had originally planned to be named Polaris Resources but has since decided upon PolarX Ltd., according to a notice sent to shareholders on Aug. 15. A special meeting to vote on the name change is scheduled for Sep. 15.

–SHANE LASLEY