Blende Silver Corp. (TSX.V: BAG) (OTC: BAGGF) has mobilized field crews to its 100%-owned Blende Silver-Zinc-Lead Project in north-central Yukon to commence the first phase of drilling targeting priority 3D induced polarization (IP) chargeability anomalies. The first drill hole(s) are expected to start within approximately 10 days, focusing on the Central Zone, a roughly 2-kilometer corridor between the West Zone and East Zone deposits.
The upcoming holes represent the first drilling to directly test the chargeability anomalies identified in the company's recently completed 3D IP survey. Notably, the Lower Central Zone and New Mountain Top areas show interpreted chargeability anomalies several times larger in areal extent than the response over the defined West Zone mineralization, which serves as a calibration reference. The survey also revealed a chargeability high coincident with low resistivity—a combination that may indicate sulphide mineralization—and these are the primary targets.
Historical drilling in the Central Zone appears to have been positioned between two distinct chargeability anomalies rather than testing the strongest responses. The company's interpretation suggests that mineralization may extend between the West Zone and East Zone, and this drilling campaign aims to test that continuity.
“Blende is not a greenfield story. We already hold one of the larger known carbonate-hosted silver-zinc-lead resources in Western Canada, and our objective now is to test whether that resource can be expanded,” said Andrew H. Rees, President and CEO. “Our 3D IP survey identified chargeability anomalies, coincident with low resistivity, that cover a larger area than the chargeability response over the West Zone that anchors our existing resource, and this program puts a drill directly into those targets for the first time.”
The program is phased to match seasonal realities. Phase 1, commencing summer 2026, will drill as many holes as conditions allow (anticipated one to two) before the field season ends in mid-September. Drilling will resume and expand in spring and summer 2027. During the winter break, the company plans to use the seasonal winter road to mobilize equipment and establish camp infrastructure and an airstrip, providing a logistical foundation for a larger, sustained exploration program.
The Blende Project hosts an existing NI 43-101 mineral resource and has been described as hosting the largest carbonate-hosted silver-zinc-lead deposit in the Yukon (M. Robinson and C.I. Godwin, Economic Geology, 1995). The 2021 mineral resource estimate, prepared at a 1.5% ZnEq cutoff, is based on metal prices from that time and has not been updated. The company cautions that readers should not rely on the estimate as reflecting current market conditions.
“We aim to mobilize equipment over the winter road this winter to build camp and airstrip infrastructure through the coming spring and summer to support a substantially larger, sustained program across a district-scale property,” added Rees. “This program is directed at testing for extensions to the existing mineral resource, and there is no certainty that it will result in any increase to that resource.”
The scientific and technical information has been reviewed and approved by Dr. Sarah Palmer, P.Geo., an independent Qualified Person under NI 43-101. Blende Silver Corp. is a Vancouver-based junior resource company focused on silver-zinc-lead exploration at its flagship Blende Project, which covers 5,345 hectares and is located approximately 63 km northeast of Keno Hill, Yukon.
