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The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
North of 60 Mining News – June 30, 2023
Much of HighGold's 2023 drilling at Johnson Tract will target Ellis Zone, where one 2022 hole cut 11.9 meters averaging 21.68 g/t gold, 30 g/t silver, 0.61% copper, and 4.2% zinc.
Click on image for full Johnson Tract property map.
HighGold Mining Inc. June 29 announced the launch of a roughly 8,000-meter drill program that is part of a larger multi-year initiative to evaluate the potential for a smaller-footprint, high-grade underground gold mine on its Johnson Tract property in Alaska.
"Our plans include significant exploration drilling to grow the property-wide mineral resource base and to continue testing new targets that are ripe for new discoveries," said HighGold Mining President and CEO Darwin Green.
According to a calculation completed last July, JT Deposit on the Johnson Tract property hosts 3.49 million metric tons of indicated resource averaging 5.33 grams per metric ton (598,000 ounces) gold, 6 g/t (673,000 oz) silver, 5.21% (400.8 million pounds) zinc, 0.59% (43.1 million lb) copper, and 0.67% (51.5 million lb) lead.
Including the value of all the metals, this comes to 1.05 million oz of indicated resource averaging 9.39 g/t gold-equivalent.
This resource does not include any of the more than 10,000 meters of drilling completed last year, which primarily targeted the Ellis Zone and surrounding Difficult Creek (DC) discovery area about 2.5 miles north of the JT deposit.
Much of the 2022 drilling will focus on building a resource at Ellis, a zone that is similar to JT and has turned up some very high-grade gold intercepts over wide widths.
The 2021 Ellis Zone discovery hole, C21-010, cut 6.4 meters averaging 577.9 g/t (18.58 oz/t) gold, 2,023 g/t (65 oz/t) silver, 2.15% zinc, and 0.3% copper. This bonanza-grade intercept included a 1.26-meter subsection averaging an incredible 2,860 g/t (91.95 oz/t) gold, 9,990 g/t (321.2 oz/t) silver, 5.04% zinc, and 0.88% copper.
Highlights from the 2022 drilling at Ellis Zone include:
• 42.8 meters averaging 3.4 g/t gold, 23 g/t silver, 0.21% copper, and 2.06% zinc in hole DC22-036.
• 11.9 meters averaging 21.68 g/t gold, 30 g/t silver, 0.61% copper, and 4.2% zinc in hole DC22-043.
• 35.2 meters averaging 4.2 g/t gold, 6.1 g/t silver, 0.12% copper, and 3.19% zinc in hole DC22-045.
• 14.8 meters averaging 10.14 g/t gold, 13.8 g/t silver, 0.28% copper, and 5.97% zinc in hole DC22-046.
This year, HighGold plans to expand the known zones of mineralization at Ellis with systematic drilling on 50- to 100-meter centers.
The company will also test fault-offset and geophysical targets under overburden to the north and east of Ellis Zone, toward the East Difficult Creek prospect about 1,500 meters away.
"Results from the Ellis Zone have been very encouraging (e.g., 6.4 meters at 599.4 g/t gold-equivalent and 11.9 meters at 25.3 g/t gold-equivalent) and we are excited to be back drilling this new discovery that is open to expansion in multiple directions," said Green.
HighGold also plans to complete additional drilling in and around JT Deposit, where drilling and interpretive work carried out last year identified a significant east-west fault south of the deposit.
Highlights from the 2022 drilling at JT include:
• 9.3 meters averaging 7.18 g/t gold, 2.8 g/t silver, 0.22% copper, and 5.57% zinc in hole JT22-148.
• 5.3 meters averaging 0.65 g/t gold, 20 g/t silver, 1.72% copper, and 0.57% zinc in hole JT22-149.
• 120.5 meters averaging 18.76 g/t gold, 6 g/t silver, 0.55% copper, and 3.86% zinc in hole JT22-152.
Hole JT22-152, which was drilled along the long axis of JT, confirmed that the southern edge of the deposit is bounded by a cross-fault.
"This opens-up the potential for additional displaced mineralization to continue further to the south than previously thought," Green said last November.
This year's drilling will test this southern expansion potential.
The 2023 drilling at JT will also test South Valley, a blind geophysical target about 1,000 meters along strike to the south of the deposit. Anhydrite alteration, a key alteration type surrounding JT Deposit, borders the South Valley target.
In addition to drilling, the 2023 exploration program will include geological mapping, prospecting, and sampling programs to generate and refine new drill targets.
As drillers and geologists continue to expand upon the gold, silver, and base metals identified so far at Johnson Tract, HighGold will be advancing a multi-year plan designed to de-risk the JT project and support future engineering, environmental and economic studies that will ready the project for advanced exploration and eventual mine development at the deposit.
A key component of this plan is to establish an underground exploration ramp for year-round drilling from underground.
"Step one of this plan is to establish an expanded airstrip for larger aircraft and to build a 2.6-mile (4 km) road connecting the airstrip and camp to a proposed portal site for which permitting is now underway," the HighGold Mining CEO explains. "Step two consists of developing an underground exploration ramp to support both detailed definition drilling of the JT Deposit and exploration drilling for mineralization to depth and along trend."
To accomplish step one, the company has filed an application with the US Army Corps of Engineers for the federal permit needed to lengthen and realign the existing airstrip and construct the access road connecting the airstrip and Johnson Tract camp to the proposed exploration portal site.
All the proposed infrastructure is on privately held lands owned by Cook Inlet Region Inc., more commonly known as CIRI, an Alaska Native regional corporation.
The permitting process for the road and airstrip is anticipated to take eight to 12 months to complete, with the objective of having approvals in hand in advance of the 2024 field season.
Step two, an exploration ramp, will provide lateral underground access from a proposed portal site located at the base of the mountain to an area immediately adjacent to the lowermost portions of the currently defined JT Deposit. Running parallel to the trend of mineralization, this ramp will provide an ideal platform for drilling to both grow the resource and to conduct cost-effective definition drilling of the deepest and highest-grade portions of the JT Deposit.
Other key elements of the 2023 advanced exploration program include:
• A shallow geotechnical drill program to support final construction design for the road and airstrip, including evaluation of local material sites.
• A geotechnical and hydrogeological drill program in support of permitting and design of an underground exploration ramp.
• Environmental and cultural surveys to support planning and permitting efforts related to the underground exploration ramp and related infrastructure.
• Preliminary studies related to project infrastructure and evaluation of potential development scenarios.
"Plans are to initiate permitting of the exploration ramp in early 2024 after completing additional studies and design work this year," said Green.
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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