American Pacific Mining Corp. presented an overview of the initial 2022 exploration program for American Pacific’s Madison Copper-Gold Project in Montana, USA.
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Following a successful exploration campaign at the Madison Project in 2021, operating partner Kennecott Exploration (KEX), a subsidiary of the Rio Tinto Group, is developing a strategic 3-D geologic model of the skarn environment at the Madison Project.
Globally appreciated skarn specialists and in-house domain experts will make a significant contribution to the modeling exercise and help prioritize exploration goals to help lead ongoing exploration efforts.
Preliminary 2022 Work Program
- A thorough examination of the Madison Project’s skarn environment, including a site visit and basic review by a world-renowned skarn specialist.
- Fieldwork focusing on gold mineralization in structurally diverse areas where bends in northwest structures have ultimately led to dilation zones with the possibility for wide zones of gold mineralization.
1These field tests will concentrate on areas of unusual geochemistry (soils and/or rocks), the carbonate-hosted Montana Zone, and the area surrounding trench MADT0002. Based on a thorough skarn review and modeling update, the next phase of drill program planning (which includes target definition) will be completed.
We are very pleased with the Kennecott partnership on Madison and look forward to further collaboration in 2022. The 2021 high-grade sampling and trenching results which extended the known mineralization well beyond the historical mine areas, as well as a new gold zone identified with last year’s drilling, speaks to the untapped potential across the Madison Project.
Warwick Smith, CEO, American Pacific Mining Corp.
“We are fortunate to have an accomplished skarn expert to support interpretation and targeting efforts at Madison,” Smith added.
2021 Exploration Recap
In 2021, KEX finalized a USD 2.7 million program that included 10 diamond drill holes comprising 3,598 m in length and aimed at extending the Madison Project skarns and Jasperoids. Drilling discovered new zones of skarn-hosted huge sulfides, indicating the possibility of Bonanza-style gold mineralization.
Highlights from the drill program included MADN0033, which returned 14.44 g/t gold and 0.11% copper over 6.53 m, including 39.57 g/t Au & 0.28% Cu over 2.35 m and 146 g/t Au and 0.98% Cu over 0.48 m.
KEX also finalized an extensive field program, which included:
- Trenching (three trenches totaling 590 m) aiming vein hosted gold mineralization outside of the Madison mine environment, with highlights of 20 m of 0.63 g/t Au, 1.16g/t silver (Ag), and 0.27% Cu (MADT0002).
- A high-resolution magnetic survey using drones that covered the entire Madison Project, identifying numerous new high-priority targets.
- Soil samples from the Madison Project’s southern section.
- Over the last three years, mapping and rock sampling were carried out, including 772 rock chip samples with 93 samples returning grades ranging from 1 g/t Au to 124.5 g/t Au.