The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
Yukon explorer budgets C$4M for drilling, target generation North of 60 Mining News – May 22, 2020
Diamond drilling at the Vertigo target on the JP Ross property. White Gold's 2020 core drilling will target Titan at Hen and Ryan's Surprise on the White Gold property.
White Gold Corp. is gearing up for another season of systematically advancing the dozens of exploration targets identified across its more than 1-million-acre (422,730 hectares) land package in Yukon's White Gold District.
On May 15, the Yukon-focused gold exploration company announced that longtime strategic partners and new institutional investors are participating in a C$6 million financing that involves the issuance of 6.67 million flow-through shares at C90 cents each.
Gold majors Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. and Kinross Gold Corp. are each buying enough of these shares to maintain their 17.1% interest in White Gold Corp. Renowned resource investor Eric Sprott and certain funds managed by Sprott Asset Management LP are also investing in the junior exploration company.
"We are very grateful for the continued support of our major shareholders and excited to welcome Eric Sprott as a new shareholder," said White Gold Corp. CEO David D'Onofrio. "We look forward to commencing our 2020 field season where we will follow up on some exciting new discoveries and look to continue to increase our existing mineral resources."
Much of the 2020 program, currently budgeted at C$4 million, will focus on the exciting new discoveries made on the White Gold (Ryan's Surprise), Hen (Titan), and JP Ross (Vertigo) at the heart of White Gold's land package. The balance of the program will advance other targets spanning 160 kilometers (100 miles), from the newly staked Tea property just south of Newmont's Coffee gold project to the Nolan property between Dawson City and Alaska.
"2020 is expected to be another exciting year for White Gold as we diamond drill test recent discoveries at the Ryan's Surprise and Titan targets, as well as advance other high-priority targets across our expansive land package," said White Gold Corp. Vice President of Exploration Terry Brace. "Extensive review and analysis performed in the off-season has also provided new interpretations on several projects which we are excited to test."
White Gold has also entered into an agreement with Minerva Intelligence Inc. to test the use of artificial intelligence as a tool to increase the effectiveness and lower the costs of exploring the White Gold District, especially in an area around the Vertigo and Titan discoveries.
"We're excited for the new insights Minerva can show us," said White Gold Corp. Chief Technical Officer Shawn Ryan.
More information on White Gold's use of Minerva Intelligence AI can be read at White Gold adds AI to exploration system in the April 15 edition of Metal Tech News at: https://www.metaltechnews.com/story/2020/04/15/mining-tech/white-gold-adds-ai-to-exploration-system/208.html.
Exploring Ryan's Surprise
One of the primary drill targets for 2020 is Ryan's Surprise about 2,000 meters west of the Golden Saddle deposit on White Gold Corp.'s namesake property.
The Golden Saddle and Arc deposits now host 14.33 million metric tons of indicated resource averaging 2.26 grams per metric ton (1.04 million ounces) gold; and 10.7 million metric tons of inferred resource averaging 1.48 g/t (508,700 oz) gold.
Roughly 86 percent of this resource is within three northeast-trending zones that make up the Golden Saddle deposit – GS Main, GS Footwall and GS West.
The 2020 drilling on the White Gold property will test extensions of Ryan's Surprise, which is associated with a more than 500-meter-long soil anomaly with samples of up to 1,576 parts per billion (1.58 g/t) gold.
One hole drilled in the central part of the Ryan's Surprise anomaly in 2011 cut 6.56 meters averaging 6.33 g/t gold at a depth of around 160 meters.
Follow-up drilling angled toward the south did not hit the mineralization White Gold expected. After determining that the mineralized zone at Ryan's Surprise likely dipped to the south, and thus the holes were running parallel to it, the company successfully hit mineralization with two holes drilled to the north last year. One of these holes, WHTRS19D012 cut 4.14 meters of 2.85 g/t gold at a depth of 142 meters, and 21 meters of 2.07 g/t gold at 154 meters. The lower intercept in this hole included 8.42 meters of 3.55 g/t gold. White Gold said this mineralization appears to be associated with a 2018 hole that cut 13.72 meters of 5.02 g/t gold from a depth of 122 meters.
WHTRS19D0012 also cut 11 meters of 2.66 g/t gold from a depth of 93 meters. White Gold believes this hanging wall mineralization higher up the hole may represent a subparallel zone which has only been tested by this single hole.
White Gold is planning to complete 1,500 meters of diamond drilling to test for strike and down-dip extensions of gold mineralization encountered last year at Ryan's Surprise, which is considered a strategic resource expansion target due to its proximity to the Golden Saddle and Arc deposits.
The company also plans to complete eight rotary air blast (RAB) holes at other priority targets on the White Gold property.
A Titan discovery
White Gold also plans to carry out diamond drilling at Titan, the most intriguing discovery turned up during the company's 2019 exploration program.
Located on the road accessible Hen property, about 16 miles (25 kilometers) northeast of Golden Saddle, Titan has shown its high-grade gold potential in soil and rock sampling, as well as drilling.
One sample from Titan returned 113 g/t gold, the highest-grade of more than 400,000 soil samples collected so far by White Gold Corp.
Rock samples collected from the area have returned some equally impressive numbers, including samples that contained 605 g/t (19.5 ounces per ton), 497 g/t (16 oz/t), 113 g/t (3.6 oz/t) and 78.3 g/t (2.5 oz/t) gold.
RAB drilling carried out last fall tapped a bedrock source for the strong gold mineralization found on the surface of Titan.
The second hole drilled at Titan, HENTTN19RAB-02, cut 6.09 meters averaging 72.81 g/t gold, including 3.05 meters averaging 136.36 g/t gold.
This bonanza grade intercept was within a 32-meter-thick zone averaging 14.82 g/t gold, making the Titan discovery one of the strongest holes ever drilled in the White Gold District.
"These results represent the first pass drilling on the new Titan discovery and are another successful demonstration of our methodical data-based exploration strategy, including our step-by-step approach of a regional soil program, ground geophysical surveys, GT probing, trenching, geological mapping and other activities," Ryan said late last year. "The process led us to directly target this unique magnetite rich mineralization, and again demonstrate that the White Gold District is very prospective ground for various styles of gold mineralization."
This year, White Gold plans to carry out 1,500 meters of diamond drilling focused primarily along the gold-in-soil anomaly which extends from the high-grade gold tapped in hole HENTTN19RAB-002.
Additionally, the company is planning to drill seven RAB holes this year to test similar geophysical and geochemical anomalies in the immediate area of Titan.
Beyond Veritgo
The 2020 program on the JP Ross property, which is located immediately east of Hen, will primarily focus on refining targets for future drilling.
Numerous gold trends and targets have been identified across a roughly 100-square-mile- (15 kilometers by 15 kilometers) area, including the Vertigo discovery.
The 2018 discovery hole at Vertigo cut 3.1 meters of 56.25 g/t gold from a depth of 3.1 meters, part of a 10.67-meter intercept averaging 17.34 g/t gold.
Follow-up RAB and reverse circulation drilling during the 2018 season confirmed and expanded the discovery, with the best intercept cutting 82.3 meters grading 3.21 g/t gold, including 1.5 meters of 103.9 g/t gold and 400 g/t silver from surface in hole JPRVERRC18-006.
White Gold completed 46 diamond holes at Vertigo during 2019, including one hole (JPRVER19D0015) that cut 5.3 meters of 11.64 g/t gold from a depth of three meters and 2.5 meters of 18.46 g/t gold from 92 meters.
White Gold's systematic exploration has turned up three other targets – Sabotage, Stage Fright, and North Frenzy the company wants to follow up with trenching this year.
Stage Fright encompasses multiple gold-in-soil anomalies covering a 2,700- by 400-meter area about 9.2 kilometers (5.7 miles) northwest of Vertigo. The company narrowed down RAB drill targets with surface and GT Probe (which collects samples at the soil-bedrock interface) sampling. The highest-grade prospecting sample collected from Stage Fright contained 94.2 g/t gold.
A RAB hole drilled at Stage Fright last year, JPRSF19RAB-005, cut 16.8 meters averaging 2.31 g/t gold from a depth of 30.5 meters, including 4.6 meters of 5.44 g/t gold.
Sampling at Sabotage, which is 7.8 kilometers (4.8 miles) northwest of Vertigo and about 2.5 kilometers (1.5 miles) southeast of Stage Fright, identified multiple zones of anomalous gold in soils over a 5,800- by 3,600-meter northeast trending area. The 2019 RAB drilling focused on the central portion of this target area.
The best RAB hole reported so far from Sabotage, JPRSAB19RAB-011, cut 7.6 meters of 3.42 g/t gold from a depth of 6.1 meters.
The North Frenzy prospect is a subset of the larger Frenzy target, which encompass multiple north trending soil anomalies covering a 3,400- by 2,700-meter area about 8.5 kilometers (5.3 miles) north of Vertigo and east of Stage Fright.
One 2019 RAB hole drilled at North Frenzy, JPRNF19RAB-002, cut 4.57 meters of 5.45 g/t gold from a depth of 13.72 meters, including 1.52 meters of 12.95 g/t gold.
This hole targeted a 1,100-meter-long north trending structure identified in geophysical surveys, soil sampling, GT probe sampling, prospecting, and trenching.
The primary goal of this year's trenching on these targets is to collect key structural data on mineralized veins, shear zones and faults, which will aid in ongoing detailed interpretations and planning of future drilling.
White Gold also plans to drill eight RAB holes to test existing targets on the property with final hole locations based on trenching and other exploration results.
Seeking the next Titan
White Gold's exploration success in the Yukon is based on a systematic regional exploration program that generates new discoveries such as Titan.
This program starts off with soil sampling. The company has collected more than 400,000 soil samples across the White Gold District and adds to this enormous database each exploration season.
Promising areas turned up with soil sampling are further investigated with LiDAR surveys, mapping, GT Probe sampling, geophysical surveys, and other early staged exploration work to develop drill targets for rotary air blast drilling.
Only the targets that continue to show resource potential with RAB drilling advance to RC and diamond resource drilling.
Focused on high priority targets previously identified, the 2020 regional exploration program will include additional mapping and prospecting; soil sampling; GT probe sampling; ultra-high-resolution drone imagery; ground magnetics: and very-low-frequency (VLF) geophysical surveying, which determines the electrical properties of shallow bedrock and soils.
Properties targeted by White Gold Corp.'s 2019 regional program include:
• Betty, which covers the eastern extension of the Coffee Creek fault that hosts Newmont's Coffee deposit. At least 10 known target areas occur over a 12-kilometer (7.5 miles) trend of anomalous gold in soils at Betty. Highlights from 2018 RAB drilling at one target, Betty Ford, included 50.29 meters of 1.08 g/t gold from a depth of 4.57 meters in hole BETFRDRAB18-002. This year's exploration at Betty is slated to include a detailed structural interpretation utilizing magnetic and Lidar data, which is expected to guide future exploration. Infill soil sampling and magnetic and VLF surveys will also be carried out in high priority areas of the property, with a goal of identifying and refining drill targets for the 2021 exploration season.
• Nolan, a property 50 kilometers (32 miles) west of Dawson City that covers multiple placer gold bearing creeks. Numerous gold-in-soil anomalies occur in the northern (Cali, Nine, Nine SW and Sixty South), central (Boucher) and southern (Mount Hart) parts of the property. The Cali target covers a 4,000-meter-long northeast trending gold-in-soil anomaly associated with anomalous antimony, arsenic, silver, and lead. In the Mount Hart area several significant gold-in-soil anomalies have been identified, including Hart South, a 2,000- by 400-meter trend with soil values ranging up to 0.539 g/t gold, and Hart East, a 2,500- by 900-meter area that has yielded as much as 0.399 g/t gold. Prospecting in the Hart area returned grab samples of epithermal-style quartz veins with up to 0.172 g/t gold, 1,467 g/t silver, and 10.63% lead. The 2020 program at Hart is expected to include addition soil sampling, ground magnetics, and VLF surveying over the Mount Hart target; as well as ground magnetics and VLF over the Cali, Nine, Nine SW and Sixty South targets in the northern part of the property.
• Bonanza, which is immediately east of famed Bonanza Creek, one of the richest placer gold creeks in the world, is another property on White Gold's 2020 exploration docket. Previous exploration work at Bonanza includes mapping, soil sampling, GT probe sampling, geophysical surveying, and five RAB holes drilled by White Gold in 2018. A favorable geological contact between the Klondike Schist to the north and Snowcap Assemblage to the south extends through the southern portion of the property, and the geophysical surveys have outlined what appears to be a fault structure running across the property. Several gold-in-soil anomalies have also been identified in the southern and northwestern portions of Bonanza. Additional soil sampling, along with ground magnetic and VLF surveys, are planned for this year. White Gold said this work will provide greater resolution for ongoing structural interpretations and target definition.
• Tea, a new addition to White Gold's portfolio that is strategically located 10 kilometers (six miles) south of Newmont's Coffee project and 10 kilometers (six miles) west of Western Copper & Gold Corporation's Casino copper-gold property. The Tea property covers 17 kilometers (11 miles) of favorable geology with the potential for hosting orogenic gold mineralization. With very limited past exploration, the 2020 program will include first-pass ridge-and-spur soil sampling designed to identify favorable areas for future follow-up exploration.
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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