The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
Sampling at Difficult Creek discovers new gold-silver-rich vein North of 60 Mining News – February 7, 2020
Geologist Jessica Edwards collects samples from the Difficult Creek target on HighGold Mining's Johnson Tract gold project.
Geologist Brodie Sutherland samples a highly mineralized rockface at Difficult Creek.
HighGold Mining Inc. Feb. 5 reported high-grade precious and base metals results from surface sampling at Difficult Creek, a target on the company's Johnson Tract property in Alaska that lies about 4,500 meters northeast of the main JT deposit.
Based on 88 holes drilled prior to 1995, JT deposit hosts 1.04 million metric tons of historical resource averaging 10.05 grams per metric ton gold, 7.63 g/t silver, 8.32 percent zinc and 1.13 percent lead.
In addition to a nine-hole drill program aimed at validating and calculating a modern resource for JT, which included one hole that cut 75.1 meters averaging 17.8 grams per metric ton gold, HighGold carried out a regional exploration program last year across the wider Johnson Tract property.
The purpose of this surface exploration program was to evaluate and extend known prospects; identify new zones of alteration and mineralization; and develop additional drill targets for 2020.
One of the most advanced prospects outside of the JT deposit area is Difficult Creek, which had two holes drilled into it during the 1990s.
DC-001 cut three meters of 7.54 g/t gold, 3.72 percent zinc, 0.11 percent copper, 1.15 percent lead and 27.4 g/t silver; and DC-02 encountered 13 meters of 8.57 g/t gold, 4.7 percent zinc, 0.5 percent copper, 0.9 percent lead and 37.7 g/t silver.
Resampling of DC-002 returned 36.5 meters of 3.04 g/t gold, 17.5 g/t silver, 0.22 percent copper, 1.87 percent zinc and 0.52 percent lead from a depth of 39 meters, including 8.5 meters of 5.02 g/t gold, 24.2 g/t silver, 0.48 percent copper, 3.55 percent zinc and 1.27 percent lead.
"High-grade mineralization at Difficult Creek is similar in character to the main Johnson Tract deposit located 4.5 kilometers (2.8 miles) to the southwest and highlights the potential for multiple deposits on the district-scale land package," said HighGold Mining President and CEO Darwin Green.
The 2019 surface sampling has affirmed and expanded Difficult Creek's potential.
Highlights from chip channel sampling over the main target area at Difficult Creek include:
• 1.5 meters averaging 22.1 g/t gold, 178 g/t silver, 1.1 percent copper and 20 percent lead;
• 1.5 meters averaging 23.3 g/t gold, 74 g/t silver, 0.2 percent copper, 0.4 percent zinc and 5.9 percent lead; and
• four meters averaging 5.3 g/t gold and 61 g/t silver.
A grab sample collected from this same area returned 50.1 g/t gold, 97 g/t silver, 5.2 percent copper, 6 percent zinc and 20 percent lead.
The 2019 surface program also discovered a new vein zone about 850 meters south of the main Difficult Creek area.
Highlights from grab samples collected from the New Vein Zone discovery include:
• 2.58 g/t gold and 102 g/t silver;
• 1.34 g/t gold and 178 g/t silver; and
• 0.97 g/t gold and 221 g/t silver.
"We are particularly encouraged by the discovery of a new vein zone and the widespread extent of mineralization," said Green. "We look forward to testing the DC (Difficult Creek) prospect along with other major drill targets located in and around the Johnson Tract deposit during the 2020 field season, which we anticipate will begin in late May to early June."
While HighGold is still refining its Johnson Tract drill plan, priorities for the 2020 program are expected to include further expansion of the JT deposit; exploring for NE Fault Offset, which is interpreted to be the fault-displaced depth continuation of JT; follow up on the silver-copper-zinc-rich Footwall zone discovered with drilling last year; and test Difficult Creek.
"HighGold is well-financed for an aggressive field program at Johnson and will issue more detail when plans have been finalized," said Green. "Meanwhile, HighGold anticipates drills to be turning on its Timmins, Ontario gold properties before month-end."
HighGold's properties in Ontario include Munro-Croesus, Golden Mile and Golden Perimeter in the Timmins Gold Camp.
Over his more than 16 years of covering mining and mineral exploration, Shane has become renowned for his ability to report on the sector in a way that is technically sound enough to inform industry insiders while being easy to understand by a wider audience.
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