The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
First 2021 assay shows Johnson Tract exploration potential North of 60 Mining News – September 17, 2021
A drill tests the resource expansion potential northeast of the JT deposit on HighGold Mining's gold-rich Johnson Tract polymetallic project in Southcentral Alaska.
HighGold Mining Inc. Sept. 14 cut strong mineralization in the first resource expansion hole at JT deposit, as assay results start to roll in from the company's 2021 program at the polymetallic Johnson Tract gold project in Southcentral Alaska.
According to a calculation completed in April of 2020, the JT deposit hosts 2.14 million metric tons of indicated resource averaging 6.07 grams per metric ton (417,000 ounces) gold, 5.8 g/t (397,000 oz) silver, 5.85% (275.3 million pounds) zinc, 0.57% (26.8 million lb) copper, and 0.71% (37.6 million lb) lead.
During the 2020 season, and after the resource was calculated, HighGold completed 32 holes to expand this deposit and test other targets in the immediate area.
Highlights from 2020 drill intercepts on the margins of the JT deposit mineral resource area include:
• 74.1 meters averaging 17.89 g/t gold, 7.1 g/t silver, 0.48% copper, 7.28% zinc, and 1.31% lead in hole JT20-092.
• 75.1 meters averaging 10.01 g/t gold, 6 g/t silver, 0.57% copper, 9.36% zinc, and 1.11% lead in JT20-093.
• 20.1 meters averaging 11.5 g/t gold, 4 g/t silver, 0.5% copper, and 3.1% zinc in JT20-096.
Building on the success of the 2020 drill program, the first hole of the 2021 program, JT21-123, cut 4.3 meters averaging 13.1 g/t gold, 200 g/t silver, 4.92% zinc, 2.04% lead, and 0.35% copper.
"This is a great start to the 2021 drill program," said HighGold Mining President and CEO Darwin Green. "Our first drill hole of the season has intersected strong precious and base metal mineralization in a large step-out from last year's drilling, expanding the total strike length of JT deposit mineralization by 15-20% to 600 meters. In addition to the excellent gold grades, the intersection includes some of the highest silver grades documented to date at the JT Deposit and is developed within a mudstone host – features often found in gold-rich VMS deposits."
The mineralization encountered in hole JT21-123 is hosted within a fine-grained mudstone unit that is similar to the 'VMS style' mineralization reported last season in hole JT20-114, which cut 7.8 meters averaging 6.1% zinc, 1.6% lead, 0.2% copper, 0.7 g/t gold, and 36 g/t silver about 600 meters northeast of JT deposit.
HighGold says the mineralization tapped in JT21-123 highlights the overall exploration potential at Johnson Tract.
"We are already designing follow-up holes and are excited to see how this new variation in the mineralization style at the JT deposit develops as we continue to test at depth and along strike," said Green.
Though HighGold is more than halfway through the 20,000 meters of planned 2021 drilling at Johnson Tract, the results for hole JT21-123 marks the first assays returned from this expansive program.
So far this year, the company has completed 11 holes in the JT deposit target area and 15 holes at DC Prospect, one of several regional targets that lie along a 7.5-mile (12 kilometers) trend that runs across the Johnson Tract project.
Further details on the Johnson Tract project and the prospects found there can be read at Exploring a uniquely Alaskan opportunity in the August 27, 2021 edition of North of 60 Mining News.
Following the completion and receipt of all assays from the 2021 drill program, HighGold will have a new resource calculation completed that incorporates all the new drilling completed at Johnson Tract during 2020 and 2021.
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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