Media visit Hercules Metals Corp. drilling site

Published by admin on Wed, 08/21/2024 - 7:00pm

The drill rig above is owned by Timberline Drilling, Inc. out of Nevada. The company was hired by Hercules Metals Corp. to drill into the earth and extract core samples that will provide Hercules CEO Chris Paul and VP of Exploration Chris Longton with details about what kind of deposits lie beneath the ground and, ultimately, whether a true mining operation is feasible in an area believed to contain silver, but more importantly a large porphyry of copper. Photo by Philip A. Janquart

From left, Hercules Metals Corp. CEO Chris Paul, VP of Exploration Chris Longton, and Community Liaison Ryan Barton have a discussion halfway up to one of the company’s drill sites north of Cambridge. Photo by Philip A. Janquart

Hercules Metals Corp. VP of Exploration Chris Longton shows the media what the drill tip actually looks like. The end he is holding with his right hand contains many small diamonds that cut into the earth. Photo by Philip A. Janquart
By: 
Philip A. Janquart
Hercules Metals Corp., which believes it has found a significant porphyry of copper near Cambridge, invited members of the media last week to visit one of its core drilling sites on Cuddy Mountain.
 The purpose of the site visit, which took place Thursday, Aug. 15, was to provide a first-hand account of exploratory drilling operations as Hercules continues its effort to prove the deposit.
 Hercules founder and CEO Chris Paul explained the geologic details of the area while transporting media by truck up a long, winding gravel road to the site, describing Jurassic and Triassic layers of rock that contain what they believe to be a large deposit.
 Ancient geologic activity involving highly heated thermal fluids transforming rock layers resulted in the highly valued copper and silver ore. 
 There is an ever increasing demand in today’s tech industries for rare-earth metals used in over 200 products across a wide range of applications, especially high-tech consumer products, such as cellular phones, computer hard drives, electric and hybrid vehicles, flat screen monitors and televisions.
 Copper, specifically, is chiefly used in building construction followed by electronics and transportation, and is used in a vast array of national defense systems and technologies.
 Finding the high-value metals, however, is incredibly difficult, according to Paul.
 “As geologists, we find these deposits by looking for the alterations (in the rock) because ore deposits are like finding a needle in a haystack,” he said. “They will be very, very small, but high grade and they always have a halo of altered rock around it, so when you see the altered rock, you know you are in a halo. 
 “That’s when you start doing soil sampling and running IP (induced polarization) surveys to look for where the needle might be, or you have some target suggesting there might be needles. That’s when you start sticking the drills in the ground and start trying to home in on them slowly that way.”
 Vice President of Exploration Chris Longton added, “These systems are big, but they are very complicated. And we’ve had two PhD-level geologists working on this with us, closely, plus a team of experts looking at the chemistry in the rocks and the way the minerals have altered from how close they were to heat or further away … all of these things we had to look through to try to understand the structure where there are faults all over the place and things have been sliced and moved over time.”
 Paul and Longton began with a few holes last year, initially targeting silver based on the area’s long mining history.
 “We ended up hitting a very long intercept of very high-grade copper and it was a complete, utter and amazing surprise for us,” Paul explained during a town hall meeting held in Cambridge back in July. 
 “That’s what sparked all the mania that we saw last fall and all through the winter with all the other companies coming in and staking claims and picking up more land.”
 Since last year, a handful of companies have made over 6,000 claims in the area, 800 of them belonging to Hercules Metals Corp. Claims were still coming at that time, according to Washington County administrators.
 Arrival at the drill site on Thursday was good timing, workers soon pulling out samples from a long cylindrical tube. It was replaced with another in a long, connection of double-tube core barrels that continue to be drilled further and further, down into the earth. 
 Paul and Longton were excited to see what was in the core rock samples, carefully sweeping away loose debris with a dust broom, wetting them down and taking a closer look with a loupe, the kind used to look at things like diamonds.
 In a nutshell, drilling is part of the first phase in the life cycle of a mine, followed by development, extraction and, finally, closure and reclamation. Based on further exploration and long, involved permitting processes with several agencies, Hercules will remain in the initial phase for another five or so years, though the drilling operation is moving fast according to Paul and Longton.
 “If it was easy, someone would have found it sooner,” Longton said. “It’s very challenging. That we have gotten as far as we have, as quickly as we have, is kind of unheard of. People in the industry, who we’ve talked to, can’t believe the pace we are moving. But it seems slow to us.”
 

 

Category:

Signal American

18 E. Idaho St.
Weiser, ID 83672
PH: (208) 549-1717
FAX: (208) 549-1718
 

Connect with Us