The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
Heliostar drilling tests area above 384,314 oz gold resource North of 60 Mining News – January 29, 2021
Heliostar Metals' 2020 program included nine holes testing the expansion of SH-1, an Unga deposit that hosts 384,318 oz of gold and 986,321 oz of silver in the inferred resource category.
Heliostar Metals Ltd. Jan. 25 reported strong gold mineralization in the first two of nine recently drilled holes focused on the expansion of the SH-1 zone at its Unga project on an island along the Alaska Peninsula.
The Unga project covers roughly 93 square miles (240 square kilometers) of two islands south of the Alaska Peninsula, Unga and Popof islands, that has long been known for its high-grade gold. The Apollo and adjacent Sitka mines, established on Unga Island in 1886, produced roughly 150,000 ounces of gold from high-grade epithermal veins before they were shuttered in 1922.
Much of Heliostar's exploration in recent years has focused on two high-grade gold trends – Apollo-Sitka and Shumagin – that each cut roughly six miles across Unga Island. Apollo-Sitka hosts the historic Apollo Mine and Shumagin is a parallel high-grade gold trend about 2,000 meters to the northwest.
SH-1, which is found along the Shumagin trend and is currently the most advanced zone at Unga, hosts 866,015 metric tons of inferred resource averaging 13.8 grams per metric ton (384,318 ounces) gold and 35.4 g/t (986,321 oz) silver.
The resource is centered on the main shoot, which is only loosely defined by widely spaced drilling outside of the resource zone.
Late last year Heliostar completed seven holes to fill the blanks in its understanding of the rocks in the upper 100 meters of the main shoot, one of the areas with sparce drilling.
The first hole, SH20-01A, cut 11.65 meters averaging 7.74 g/t gold and 27 g/t silver from a depth of 12.95 meters, including four meters of 16.06 g/t gold and 37.7 g/t silver.
The second hole, 2H20-02, cut 1.98 meters averaging 18.66 g/t gold and 11.5 g/t silver from a depth of 50.75 meters.
"These excellent results demonstrate the high gold grades contained within the SH-1 zone at Unga," said Heliostar Metals CEO Charles Funk.
Assays are pending from five additional holes targeting the top 100 meters of the main shoot at SH-1.
The company also completed two holes to test depth extensions in areas of widely spaced drilling at SH-1. The deepest hole drilled so far at SH-1, BM-01, cut 5.48 meters averaging 23.99 g/t gold.
Drilling along strike from the main shoot indicates parallel zones of mineralization that remain open. Heliostar will test these SH-1 expansion targets, as well as depth extension of SH-1 when drilling at Unga restarts in late March.
"Unga received very little exploration in the last 40 years. However, it has several exciting, high-grade gold targets," said Funk. "Heliostar will continue to aggressively explore the property in 2021 with a goal of defining resources in excess of one million ounces."
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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