Benton Acquires Additional Land at its Dominion Lake Project and Commences Summer Exploration
Benton Resources Inc. (BEX) announced the acquisition of a 100% interest in 36 additional claim units, comprising three licenses, adjacent to its Dominion Lake Project. The transaction, which adds to the original option agreement dated November 25, 2024, involves a one-time cash payment of $3,000 and the issuance of 20,000 common shares, subject to regulatory approval. The newly acquired land covers favorable volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS) and gold geology.
The company has established exploration accommodations and mobilized crews, who have been active for the past three weeks. Prospecting and soil sampling are currently underway, with trenching on priority target areas set to commence shortly. Benton highlighted several high-grade gold and base metal targets across the new land. At the Bear #3 gold zone, grab samples returned up to 10.8 g/t Au. The Rickirb gold zone has yielded grab samples up to 6.41 g/t Au over more than 200 meters of intermittent bedrock exposure.
Significant base metal assays were reported from the Trinity zone, with surface samples assaying up to 14.6% Zn, 1.31% Pb, 2.53% Cu, 68.7 g/t Ag, and 0.17 g/t Au. The Bear alteration zone features a broad multi-target alteration area with base metal subcrops and float. Historical drill hole BA-00-01 intersected 6.90% Zn, 8.90% Pb, 0.68% Cu, and greater than 6.0 g/t Ag over 0.16 meters. Additionally, a float sample from Bear #2 returned 19.2% Zn, 0.09% Cu, 2.26% Pb, 80.9 g/t Ag, and 2.27 g/t Au.
Exploration efforts also identified two new areas of massive sulfides for stripping at the Big Kahuna search area. In the Costigan Lake area, a zone of altered felsic volcanics contains multiple VLF and AEM conductors, with recent prospecting returning float assaying 1.25% Zn and 10.7 g/t Ag.
Benton plans to conduct prospecting and soil sampling where historical drilling intercepted 1.5 meters grading 1.02% Cu, 1.83% Zn, and 10.5 g/t Ag starting at 48.3 meters in hole HRP-08-01. The company noted that this hole is wide open for further drilling. This target is located approximately 1,500 meters southwest of Canterra Mineral Corporation's Daniel's Pond VMS deposit and roughly 600 meters west-southwest of the newly discovered Rickirb gold zone. Additional work will target geology along the strike of CTM's Bobby's Pond VMS deposit.
All samples were submitted to Eastern Analytical Ltd. in Springdale, NL, an ISO/IEC 17025 accredited laboratory. The assay method utilized was Au Fire assay with a 30g charge plus ICP-34 (a 34-element package), with overlimits analyzed via atomic absorption. All reported assays are uncut, and grab samples are considered selective.