Editor's Note: The Drill Down is a weekly summary of the best drill results reported by companies in SNL's coverage space, as aggregated by SNL Metals & Mining.
An assay from Seabridge Gold's KSM property in British Columbia claimed the top spot during the week ended Oct. 17. Regal Resources, meanwhile, reported both the best copper and the best cobalt result for the week, from its Kalongwe operation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Gold
Seabridge Gold Inc. led this week's roundup, posting additional drill results from a surface exploration program on its wholly owned KSM property in British Columbia.
Results from the Lower Zone of the Iron Cap deposit continue to define a major new gold-copper discovery, according to the company. Iron Cap is one of four large porphyry deposits at KSM.
Recent drill highlights included an interval of 592.70 meters grading 1.14 g/t of gold, 0.37% copper and 3.70 g/t of silver from a depth of 178.70 meters in drill hole IC-14-059, which was evaluated at US$37,304 by SNL Metals & Mining.
Seabridge Gold plans to incorporate the additional assays into an initial resource estimate for the Lower Zone, which is anticipated in the first quarter of 2015. The company has delineated the deposit along a strike length of about 750 meters to date, with mineralization remaining open to the north and at depth.
Copper
The No. 1 copper result was one reported by Regal Resources Ltd. from its Kalongwe operation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The company received final assays for the first three of 14 diamond drill holes totaling 2,100 meters that were recently completed on the property.
Of particular note is drill hole DKAL_DD089, which intersected 87.50 meters grading 3.35% copper and 0.37% cobalt from a depth of 48.30 meters. The result, with an estimated value of US$26,336, includes a 21.20-meter subinterval grading 6.58% copper and 0.22% cobalt from the same depth.
The company said the results confirm the continuity of mineralization between previous drill holes and are in line with its resource model for the Kalongwe deposit. Regal Resources and Traxys Projects LP each own a 40% interest in Kalongwe, with the remaining 20% stake held by a private interest.
Niobium
With an evaluation of US$22,113, Cradle Resources Ltd. posted the top niobium interval for the week, reporting results from a phase-one drill program at the Panda Hill property in Tanzania, which is a 50/50 joint venture with Tremont Investments Ltd.
The company said the latest results continue to return wide, high-grade intercepts in a new zone located in the southern area of the deposit, dubbed the Angel zone. Drill hole PHRC037 yielded an interval of 81.0 meters grading 0.91% niobium pentoxide from a depth of 54.0 meters. Cradle Resources noted that the Nb2O5 grade is equivalent to a gold grade of 4.3 g/t.
Cradle Resources has completed a first stage of drilling comprising 78 diamond and reverse circulation drill holes, with a third of the results pending. The company is focused on upgrading resources at Panda Hill. A phase-two reverse circulation drill campaign is scheduled to begin in early November and the company has also commissioned a geophysical survey to help define wider structures within the deposit.
Zinc
An assay from Cypress Development Corp. 's early stage Gunman project in Nevada was the best zinc result for the week.
The company recently completed an additional 11 reverse circulation drill holes as part of a phase-two program on the property, which focused on further definition of mineralization comprising the RH zone.
Drilling returned a highlight of 70.1 meters grading 13.35% zinc and 83.41 g/t of silver from surface in drill hole GMRC-16. The result, valued at US$20,734 by SNL, included a 28.98-meter interval grading 26.84% zinc and 164.75 g/t of silver. The company noted that two drill holes had also returned copper grades.
Cypress Development said that in light of the "exceptional" results to date, it is planning a phase-three reverse circulation program at Gunman, expected to begin by year-end.
Palladium
Palladium made the grade this week, with North American Palladium Ltd. reporting third quarter drill results from an exploration program at its wholly owned Lac des Iles mine in Ontario.
The company said surface drilling had outlined a new zone of outcropping high-grade mineralization located adjacent to the Roby Zone open pit and that ongoing extension and conversion drilling focused on the Lower, North and Upper areas of the Offset Zone at Lac des Iles had also returned encouraging results.
Drill hole 14-774 returned an interval of 367.0 meters grading 1.43 g/t of palladium, 0.16 g/t of platinum and 0.13 g/t of gold from a depth of 455.0 meters. The company said the result, given an evaluation of US$20,669 by SNL, was one of the thickest intersections of low-grade palladium mineralization ever reported from the Lac des Iles property.
North American Palladium noted that its 2014 exploration program remains on track to support a preliminary economic assessment for a potential phase-two expansion of the Offset mine. Fourth quarter exploration will include surface and underground drilling, with a continued focus on resource definition.
Cobalt
Regal Resources also posted the top cobalt result for the week, with its Kalongwe project making a second appearance in this week's roundup. With an estimated value of US$13,693, drill hole DKAL_DD088 yielded an interval of 50.0 meters grading 0.57% cobalt and 2.03% copper from a depth of 147.90 meters.
Regal Resources is working to verify the drill data and test the lateral continuity of the geology and mineralization at the site. Two diamond drill rigs continue drilling at Kalongwe as part of the phase-two, 5,000-meter campaign that began in mid-August.