Hudbay is hoping some of its recent acquisitions and finds around Snow Lake will mean an even longer lifespan for its area operations.
In a company announcement released July 27, the company touted recent drill results and purchases around the Snow Lake region, including some potential plans for the area. The announcement included results from the company’s drill program from last winter, which included step-out drilling not far from Lalor, down-plunge drilling from the mine itself and other exploration projects.
Near the mine, Hudbay had one drill rig testing out a previously-located geophysical anomaly it first found last year. That drill found silver mineralization that led to four more drill holes being made at the site, with all four intersecting sulphide areas with zinc, copper, gold and silver located. Electromagnetic surveys have also located sites slightly further away from the mine that may also contain similar mineralization.
“Given the close proximity of these intersections to the existing Lalor underground infrastructure, the mineralization in this area has the potential to further enhance the near-term mine plan for Lalor pending additional drilling and positive feasibility studies,” reads Hudbay’s statement.
Four more drill rigs were used to carry out down-plunge drilling deep at the Lalor mine complex. Each of the rigs found disseminated copper sulfides, leading company reps to believe there may be more mineable copper and gold feeder zones deeper at the mine.
Along with those drill results came updates on land bought around by Snow Lake by Hudbay earlier this year. Deals reached between Hudbay and junior mining companies earlier this year brought Hudbay to 2,690 square kilometres of land owned for mining around Snow Lake.
“The drilling results and the regional land acquisitions provide the potential for mine life extension at Hudbay’s Snow Lake operations beyond 2038,” reads the Hudbay statement.
Hudbay entered into a deal with Rockcliff Metals, one of the largest landholders in the region, to purchase all of the issued and outstanding shares in the company, picking up the company’s more than 1,800 square kilometres in mining rights. That deal was announced in June.
Another deal reached in late June saw Hudbay buy mining properties around Cook Lake, doing so from what the company called an “arms-length third party.” The properties are less than 10 kilometres away from Lalor mine and are within 30 kilometres of the company’s New Britannia and Stall processing facilities.
The Cook Lake properties bring with them about 60,000 metres of historical drilling data, carried out on the site dating back as far as 1971, but that drilling did not reach as far as modern drilling technology is able to reach. The company is optimistic on what will be found at the properties, saying they have “potential for another Snow Lake anchor deposit” if everything pans out.
“The Cook Lake properties are untested by modern deep geophysics, which was the discovery method for the Lalor mine,” reads the company statement.
The company also plans to carry out further exploration next year to cover its newly-bought land, along with another winter drilling campaign covering both down-plunge drilling from Lalor and results from new geophysical surveys.
“Hudbay intends to explore these claims in hopes of finding a new anchor deposit to maximize and extend the life of Hudbay’s Snow Lake operations beyond 2038,” reads the statement.
