The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
Step-out hole cuts 2.5 meters of 4.1 g/t gold, 3.5 g/t silver North of 60 Mining News – November 19, 2021
Looking south over the mill facility and other infrastructure from historical mining at Ascot Resources' Premier gold project near Stewart, British Columbia.
Ascot Resources Ltd. Nov. 17 reported that drilling has expanded gold mineralization at Day Zone, a discovery target near the Big Missouri deposit on the company's Premier gold mine project at the southern tip of British Columbia's Golden Triangle.
Located about 16 miles (25 kilometers) from the mining town of Stewart, Premier hosts 3.63 million metric tons of probable reserves averaging 5.45 grams per metric ton (637,000 oz) gold and 19.1 g/t (2.23 million oz) silver in three deposits – Premier, Silver Coin, and Big Missouri.
After starting off the 2021 season testing Premier deposit expansion targets, Ascot mobilized drill crews to Day, which is at a higher elevation about three miles (five kilometers) north of the Premier deposit and mill.
Day Zone was first encountered with 2020 drilling that showed this target about 300 meters west of Big Missouri. Highlights from the discovery drilling at Day include:
• 4.1 meters averaging 20.62 g/t gold in hole P20-2212.
• 2.05 meters averaging 54.6 g/t gold in hole P20-2213.
• 3.62 meters averaging 16.59 g/t gold in hole P20-2217.
• 5.6 meters averaging 15.31 g/t gold in hole P20-2245.
Given these high-grade intercepts adjacent to Big Missouri, Ascot says Day Zone is one of the most compelling targets for resource growth and potential mine life extension.
"Since its initial discovery last year and through very modest amounts of additional drilling, the Day Zone has quickly evolved into one of our most prospective targets for potential resource growth near planned development," said Ascot Resources President and CEO Derek White. "This is especially important for our strategy to increase mine life given the Day Zone's proximity to the Big Missouri and Silver Coin deposits, which will be exploited in the early years of our mine plan."
The company has received assay results from the first 2021 hole drilled at Day Zone, P21-2331, which tested an area of sparse geological information very close to the planned development drift from the Big Missouri deposit to the Silver Coin deposit.
A step-out 400 meters south of the 2020 drilling, this hole cut 2.46 meters averaging 4.13 g/t gold and 3.5 g/t silver.
To establish the orientation of mineralization in this area, Ascot drilled an additional hole from the same pad as hole P21-2331. Assays are pending.
Day Zone has now been traced for 550 meters and remains open to the north and to the south.
"The 400-metre step-out hole to the south of the Day Zone highlights the size potential of this area, and we eagerly await assay results from an additional seven holes drilled from the same pad," said White.
In addition to Day Zone, Ascot received results from 10 holes drilled west of the Premier Mine.
Earlier this year, the company reported that hole P21-2320, drilled early in the 2021 season, cut seven meters averaging 21.13 g/t gold, 110.6 g/t silver, 17.14% zinc, and 2.76% lead about 50 meters west of the Premier-Northern Light deposit.
Another 10 holes tested a previously undrilled area along the projected extension of the Northern Light Zone at Premier. Hole P21-2323 cut 0.7 meters averaging 17.05 g/t gold and 43 g/t silver in this area.
While anomalous gold was encountered in many of these holes, the spectacular grades intersected earlier in the year were not duplicated.
Ascot says this potential deposit expansion area is concealed by younger volcanic cover and geological information is obtained exclusively from drill holes.
Additional work in the future will be designed to establish the correct trace of the main trend of mineralization and its potential connection to the intercepts further west reported earlier in the year.
The hydrothermal system appears to extend to the west of the established resource areas offering exciting potential for additional discoveries very close to the mine infrastructure.
With winter weather setting in at Premier, Ascot has wrapped up the 2021 drill program with the completion of 18,074 meters of surface drilling this year. The company had originally planned to complete closer to 25,000 meters, but permit delays restricted the start of underground drilling.
"As the company continues to work with provincial permitting regulators, we look forward to getting final permits to progress development and underground drilling," said White.
Given the enormous backlog at assay laboratories, Ascot still awaits results for 10,875 meters of drilling completed in 57 holes drilled this year.
"Assay results have taken much longer to process this year. We are looking forward to assays from both Big Missouri and Sebakwe, where visible gold was observed in drill core," the Ascot Resources CEO added.
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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