The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
To drill Virgin Mine area before moving to main 2021 target North of 60 Mining News – May 21, 2021
Klondike Gold CEO Peter Tallman prospecting for lode sources of the 20 million ounces of placer gold recovered from the streams in Yukon's famed Klondike District.
Klondike Gold Corp. May 19 reported that it has a drill turning near the historical Virgin gold mine, marking the start of a three-phase 2021 drill program at its 586-square-kilometer (226 square miles) Klondike District property near Dawson City, Yukon.
The Virgin and Lindow target areas being tested by Klondike's phase-1 2021 drilling are found along Bear Creek, a significant placer gold-producing creek during the Klondike Gold Rush.
Visible gold was discovered in quartz veins at the Virgin Mine in 1902 and underground mining was carried out there in 1913. A stamp mill installed at the time reportedly processed 265 ounces of gold from the underground workings. It is reported that the mill was upgraded from steam to electrical power in 1934 but little further hard rock mining was carried out there.
Klondike geologists previously collected five prospecting grab samples from the area around the Virgin Mine containing between five and 14.2 grams per metric ton gold, one sample of 0.9 g/t gold, and fourteen samples with no significant assay.
The highest-grade samples were collected from quartz vein material in the main shaft and adjacent workings or from the stamp mill dump pile.
Klondike's phase-1 exploration will also explore Lindow, an early 20th-century gold discovery about 2,000 meters south of the Virgin Mine. Gold was discovered in quartz veins at Lindow in 1911 and historical mining was carried out there but little more is known about this historical target.
Prospecting and mapping by Klondike geologists in 2018 located a bedrock occurrence of visible gold in quartz veins. Out of 12 grab samples collected from outcrops of veining and host rock, eight contained between 0.2 g/t and 4.1 g/t gold, and four samples with no significant assay.
Recent recompilation and upgraded description of the Lindow Showing published by Yukon Geological Survey led to the company's realization that part of the 'lost' Lindow Showing had been relocated by 2018 outcrop sampling.
Klondike's phase-1 2021 program is expected to include three holes to test the Virgin target and at least two holes at Lindow.
A follow-up drill program to further test Bear Creek targets is scheduled for September, contingent upon positive results.
The second phase of Klondike's 2021 program will target the Lone Star zone, which is the company's most advanced and largest gold target.
Located between the Eldorado and Bonanza creeks of Klondike Gold Rush fame, Lone Star is a 5,000-meter-long zone of gold mineralization that runs alongside the Bonanza fault.
Klondike's phase-2 drilling will test for gold-bearing structures parallel to the Bonanza fault as an attempt to significantly expand the footprint of gold mineralization. Phase 2 drilling will also include infill and step-out expansion tests of the main Lone Star Zone for inclusion in a planned 2022 mineral resource estimate for this large zone. Deeper tests beneath the shallow drilling that has so far defined the Lone Star Zone are also planned as an attempt to follow gold mineralization to depth.
The third phase of this year's program will target Stander, a zone about 1,300 meters southwest and running roughly parallel to Lone Star.
Formerly known as Nugget, Stander is the site of some of the highest-grade gold intercepts on the Klondike property. One hole drilled at Stander in 2019 cut 2.5 meters averaging 404 g/t gold and 415 g/t silver, including one meter of 1,009 g/t gold with 1,035 g/t silver.
This year's drilling at Stander will test for lateral expansions of gold mineralization and to infill between mineralized intersections for possible inclusion in the planned 2022 mineral resource estimate.
"The primary objective of the 2021 exploration season is to expand known mineralized zones to advance a maiden resource at Lone Star," said Klondike Gold CEO Peter Tallman. "Additionally, we have identified and will test significant new drill targets within the District that could rapidly open up the possibilities for additional discoveries. Our full crew complement is in the field and work is moving along smoothly."
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.
Reader Comments(0)