The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
Blue Star Gold Corp. reports discovery of 'Mikigon Prospect' North of 60 Mining News – September 1, 2023
One sample collected from this outcrop at the Penthouse prospect returned 1.54 g/t gold, 8.59 g/t silver, 0.345% copper, and 6,850 parts per million cobalt.
Early this summer, Blue Star Gold Corp. launched an exploration program, hoping to identify favorable prospects and advance targets on its landholdings in western Nunavut to drill-ready status for a 2024 discovery program at its Ulu Gold Project.
The company's Ulu, Hood River, and Roma properties cover more than 45 kilometers (28 miles) of the High Lake Greenstone Belt.
By the first week in August, Blue Star had scoped out several promising areas for drilling next year on the 947-hectare (2,340 acres) Ulu property, including a new discovery.
Blue Star and its predecessor company have explored the gold-rich mineral leases near Nunavut's historic Lupin gold mine for a decade. According to a 2015 resource estimate, the Flood and Gnu zones on the Ulu property host 2.5 million metric tons of measured and indicated resources averaging 7.53 grams per metric ton (605,000 ounces) gold; and 1.26 million metric tons of inferred resource grading 5.57 g/t (226,000 oz) gold.
In 2022, Blue Star launched a 3,690-meter drill program to upgrade and expand these deposits, which lie about 600 meters apart, as well as test the Central-C and Axis zones that lie between them.
The junior's 2023 program was designed to advance exploration on multiple fronts, including ground-based geophysical surveys, ground-truthing pipeline targets, mapping, lithogeochemical sampling, and prospecting in preparation for more drilling in 2024.
Early results reported Aug. 8 include a new discovery, the Mikigon prospect, and three promising drill targets -- Penthouse, Rhonda, and the Bamako showing (now the Auma prospect).
"The discovery of the Mikigon prospect highlights the strong potential for significant new mineralized zones at the company's projects," said Blue Star CEO Grant Ewing in a statement that outlined the results.
"This new prospect along with several other high potential targets will be ready for drill-testing in future programs. The focus continues to be on evaluating and prioritizing the large pipeline of targets for gold potential, but it is also evident that Blue Star's vast landholdings have excellent potential for the discovery of critical mineral deposits, including copper, zinc, and cobalt," Ewing observed.
Highlights of the results include:
• Mikigon has been traced 550 meters into overburden and remains open. Samples returned grades of 47.1 g/t gold, 29.6 g/t gold, and 22.7 g/t gold.
• Penthouse has been traced on strike for 400 meters and remains open. Samples returned grades up to 26.9 g/t gold, 184 g/t silver, 5.73% copper, and 7.12% zinc; and 1.54 g/t gold, 8.59 g/t silver, 0.345% copper, and 6,850 parts per million cobalt.
• Rhonda has been confirmed to be a precious metals-rich base metal prospect at a flexure in a mafic volcanic over sediment contact zone, highlighted by samples returning 6.04 g/t gold, 69.9 g/t silver, 0.587% copper, and 12.4% zinc.
• Claims have been staked to cover the Auma prospect, where historical work indicates the presence of a 1,500-meter-long electromagnetic conductor coincident with quartz-pyrrhotite veining; and multi-ounce gold grab samples.
Blue Star focused its 2023 mapping program on the five-kilometer-long Ulu fold between the Flood Zone gold deposit, the NFN deposit, and the North and South Penthouse areas.
The mapping this season is being undertaken at scales of 1:5000 and 1:2500, and pXRF scanning of rock chips is used to determine areas for lithogeochemical sampling to better define and understand the stratigraphic package and differentiate between more prospective lithological units. Blue Star said these map areas host many of the key pipeline prospects.
"Having the support to undertake a significant mapping program has allowed the exploration team to better understand the geological framework and mineralization settings leading to field-based new target identification this season," said Blue Star Gold Vice President of Exploration Darren Lindsay. "This work will assist in the prioritization of our pipeline targets and eventually to additional discoveries at the end of a drill bit."
The junior's prospectors are focused on areas with no previous sampling and on confirming and expanding pipeline targets.
The Mikigon prospect was identified during mapping of the sediments surrounding the Ulu Fold in an area of no previously known sampling. This is the first known substantial sediment-hosted mineralized zone in the Ulu gold project. It is located some 3.5 kilometers (2.2 miles) north-northeast of the Flood Zone gold deposit and 1.8 kilometers (1.1 miles) southeast of the NFN deposit. Thirty-three samples, over a strike length of 550 meters from a mineralized trend one to four meters wide on surface, have been collected to date.
The Rhonda Prospect was evaluated to confirm the location of historical sampling and better define the north-south contact/structural trend. This prospect is located about 1,300 meters southwest of the Flood Zone gold deposit and 900 meters from the camp road.
Fifteen grab samples were collected from outcrop, subcrop, and frost heave, returning a mean gold value of 1.97 g/t, a mean silver value of 29.2 g/t, and a mean zinc value of 2.8% in a range of detection limit to 6.04 g/t gold, 69.9 g/t silver, and 12.4% zinc.
The historical Penthouse showing is hosted within a sedimentary rock package located below a basalt contact and is traceable for at least 400 meters. The discontinuous massive sulfide horizon ranges from 0.15 to 0.75 meters wide in the main zone, with potential for multiple target horizons in the rock package.
Similar alteration has been observed below the main level, and gold-bearing quartz veins occur at an oblique angle. Results from five samples received to date are tabulated below, with a grab sample from a massive sulfide zone in outcrop returning a highlight grade of 26.9 g/t gold, 184 g/t silver, 5.73% copper, and 7.12% zinc.
Historical work at the 164-hectare (405 acres) Auma prospect includes airborne electromagnetics, ground-based magnetics and horizontal loop electromagnetic geophysical surveys, mapping, prospecting, and six "gopher" drill holes.
Grab samples reported from previous exploration companies range to 54.4 g/t gold (BHP 1991), 101 g/t gold (Strongbow/Allyn Resources 2005) and 183.79 g/t gold (Oz Minerals 2008) (pers. comm. T.Toole, 2023). Drilling results reported by Zaremba and Takenaka in 1995 include drill hole 95HBD-02, which intercepted 2.6 meters of 15.3 g/t gold.
Blue Star said it has not yet undertaken sufficient work to verify and validate the historical data.
The junior said it is continuing to build and assess its extensive target pipeline with a focus on expanding the current resource areas and prioritizing several new targets.
The explorer also said its technical team's improved understanding of the geological controls on mineralization at Ulu following the last two successful field programs has led to advancing target areas to drill-ready status.
A geophysical program conducted by Aurora Geosciences Inc. of Yellowknife, NWT, entailed ground-based surveys designed to confirm and refine drill targets in the more than 1,200-meter-long Gnu Zone target area and to visualize potential depth extensions to the Flood Zone. Blue Star said these will be reported once final interpretations are available.
Mapping, prospecting, and geophysical survey data processing is ongoing and will be compiled and reported as results become available. Structural and stratigraphic studies will be compiled and reported once the data has been received and interpretation is completed, the junior added.
Several improvements, meanwhile, have been made at the Ulu exploration camp, including remediation work to clean up legacy waste, resulting in a significant increase in efficiency of the operation.
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