Serengeti Resources Inc. [TSXV-SIR; 34S-FSE] said Thursday July 25 that it has begun drilling at the Atty property, immediately north of and adjacent to Centerra Gold Inc.’s [CG-TSX; CAGDF-OTC] Kemess property in north-central British Columbia.
Serengeti said it plans to drill at least 2,500 (five holes) to test three different targets. The company said it secured an option to earn a 100% interest in the property from Finlay Minerals Ltd. [FYL-TSXV] and Electrum Resources Corp. An initial target development program was conducted in 2018.
Serengeti shares were unchanged at 27.5 cents on Thursday. The shares are trading in a 52-week range of 12 cents and 60 cents.
The most recent induced polarization (IP) geophysical surveying, completed in June 2019, has identified a previously unknown, intense, deposit-scale chargeability anomaly, known as the Valley Target. It is coincident with magnetic, radiometric and a flanking geochemical anomaly in a covered bottom in the northern portion of the property, 6 km northeast of the Kemess East deposit.
“We are very pleased to start our first drill program at Atty,” said Serengeti President David Moore. “The Kemess East Offset target is a priority for us, and the new Valley target, located six kilometres away, which is almost completely covered, is a compelling, deposit-size IP anomaly that could represent an intact porphyry system,” he said.
“It has not previously been recognized because much of it sits beneath shallow valley fill cover.”
Serengeti says the Atty porphyry copper-gold project is a high priority target that may host the eastern fault offset of Centerra Gold’s Kemess East deposit.
Centerra announced the friendly acquisition of AuRico Metals (including its royalty portfolio and the Kemess gold-copper development asset) in early November 2017, for a total cash consideration of US$242 million (C$310 million).
Kemess is a low-cost brownfield development asset that is host to the feasibility-stage Kemess Underground and preliminary economic assessment level Kemess East projects.
Serengeti is currently advancing its Kwanika copper-gold project in partnership with POSCO DAEWOOD and exploring its extensive portfolio of properties in north-central B.C.
The company said it hoped to complete a pre-feasibility study at Kwanika by the third quarter of 2019. The pre-feasibility study is targeting a proposed open-pit and bulk underground copper-gold mine at Kwanika.
Highlights from drilling last year include drill hole K-182, which returned 500 metres of 0.66% copper, 0.80 g/t gold (2.19 g/t gold equivalent), including 113 metres of 1.31% copper, 1.31 g/t gold (4.09 g/t gold equivalent) from near surface at Kwanika.
The project is held by Kwanika Copper Corp., a private company held jointly by Serengeti Resources, which has a 65% interest, and POSCO Daewood, which owns the other 35%.
POSCO Daewoo is one of South Korea’s leading trading companies. POSCO’s commitment provides financial stability and significant value to both the Kwanika Project and Serengeti as a company, Moore said recently.