The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
Higher-grade zones within the resource, multiple zones beyond North of 60 Mining News - December 21, 2021
A drill tests a resource expansion target at the JT deposit on HighGold Mining's Johnson Tract project in Alaska.
HighGold Mining Inc. Dec. 21 reported that assay results from the 2021 infill and resource expansion drilling continue to cut broad zones of both precious and base metals in and around the JT deposit on its Johnson Tract project in Southcentral Alaska.
"We continue to be impressed by the strength of the mineralizing system at Johnson Tract," said HighGold Mining President and CEO Darwin Green.
According to a calculation completed prior to the start of 2020 drilling, 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.
The latest batch of assay results is from 10 holes targeting areas that could upgrade and expand upon this resource, along with providing material for further metallurgical work for JT deposit mineralization.
The best intercept came in JT21-134, a hole drilled to collect sample material to support the metallurgical testing program and provide a better definition of the near-surface portion of the JT deposit.
From a depth of 66.3 meters, this hole cut 84.7 meters averaging 4.72 g/t gold, 4.56% zinc, 1.6% lead, and 0.34% copper. A seven-meter subsection of this interval averaging 12.73 g/t gold, 2.26% zinc, 0.5% lead, and 0.29% copper from 80 meters.
HighGold says this intercept is wider and has higher grades than was encountered in nearby 2019 holes included in the current resource. Combined with JT21-125, a hole reported in October that cut 56.6 meters averaging 18.7 g/t gold, 2.4% zinc, and 0.5% copper, it is expected that the results from hole JT21-134 will have a positive impact on the coming updated resource estimate for the JT deposit.
The company, however, was most encouraged by the multiple precious and base metal zones encountered in hole JT21-133, which was drilled 200 meters down-plunge from the JT deposit resource.
Highlights from hole JT21-133 include:
• 4.5 meters averaging 3.6 g/t gold, 1.48% zinc, and 0.53% lead from a depth of 233.5 meters.
• Eight meters averaging 6.32% zinc and 0.14% lead from 319.5 meters.
• 9.2 meters averaging 1.41% copper, 0.48% zinc, and 36 g/t silver from 444.6 meters.
"Drill hole JT21-134 is a prime example of the exceptional width and tenor of mineralization at JT, while drill hole JT21-133, which was drilled approximately 400 meters down-plunge of JT21-134 and well outside the current resource, highlights both the continuity and spectrum of mineralization styles present at JT," Green said.
The company also reports drill results from eight holes which were designed to test the along strike and down-plunge extents of the JT deposit and related Footwall Copper Zone.
Highlights from these step-out holes include:
• Seven meters averaging 1.35% copper, 0.33% zinc, and 18 g/t silver from a depth of 252.8 meters in hole JT21-124.
• 8.7 meters averaging 3.97% zinc and 0.16% copper from a depth of 246.1 meters in hole JT21-130.
Overall, HighGold completed 16,198 meters of drilling in 44 holes at Johnson Tract this year. In addition to resource upgrade and expansion drilling at JT, the 2021 drilling targeted Difficult Creek, an exciting prospect area about 2.5 miles (four kilometers) northeast of JT.
Assays are pending from 25 of the holes drilled this year. Once all the assay results are received, an updated resource that incorporates roughly 30,000 meters of new drilling since the 2020 estimate will be calculated.
In the meantime, metallurgical work is underway to confirm historical results reported in the 1990s; identify opportunities for improvement; and support potential future scoping-level process design.
"We are looking forward to the results of our metallurgical test program which will give us the first modern metal recoveries for the project in over 25 years and will dovetail with the mineral resource update planned for early 2022," said Green.
The updated resource calculation is expected during the first quarter of 2022.
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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