The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
Drills 22 holes at gold project, set for larger 2024 program North of 60 Mining News – December 1, 2023
Doyon President and CEO Aaron Schutt during a fall visit to the Flat gold project. Click on image for a project video featuring Schutt and Tectonic Metals President and CEO Tony Reda.
Click on image for larger 2023 Flat drill map.
Tectonic Metals Inc. Nov. 23 announced that it completed 19 holes during its inaugural drilling at Flat and is positioned to carry out a larger drill program at this large gold project on Doyon Ltd. lands in Southwest Alaska.
"We have achieved a major milestone in our exploration efforts with the successful completion of our first-ever drill program," said Tectonic Metals President and CEO Tony Reda.
Located about 25 miles (40 kilometers) north of the world-class Donlin Gold project, Flat is a 92,160-acre property Tectonic leased from Doyon that covers the likely lode source of two creeks – Flat and Otter – that are estimated to have produced more than 830,000 oz of placer gold since 1908. When you add in other streams draining Chicken Mountain on the property, this total is more than 1.3 million oz of alluvial gold.
Historical exploration carried out from the 1960s until 2003, including roughly 11,000 meters of drilling, has outlined a 3,800-meter-long and up to 600-meter-wide gold-in-soil anomaly formed by intrusion-hosted mineralization that begins at surface and remains open along strike and at depth.
Highlights from the historical drilling include: 24.7 meters averaging 12.56 grams per metric ton gold; 1.4 meters averaging 211 g/t gold; 76 meters averaging 0.98 g/t gold; and 36.6 meters averaging 1.36 g/t gold.
Despite a season challenged by 50% more rainfall than is normal, resulting in low visibility from clouds and thick fog, the Tectonic team was able to mobilize equipment to Flat and completed 19 reverse circulation and three oriented diamond drill holes at the expansive gold project.
The 2,633 meters of RC drilling completed this year focused primarily on expanding Chicken Mountain gold mineralization along strike, as well as testing for new discoveries.
The 915 meters of diamond drilling targeted the expansion of gold mineralization along strike and to depth while providing valuable structural data to assist in understanding optimal orientation, the factors controlling mineralization and to target future drilling.
Assays from all the holes are pending and Tectonic anticipates receiving them sometime after the first of the year.
"This program has provided invaluable insights into the potential of the Flat Gold System, particularly within the historically drilled area of Chicken Mountain," said Reda. "We believe in the importance of continuous learning and growth, and our company has made significant progress in terms of our understanding of the logistics, operations, and geology at Flat. The upcoming 2023 drill assay results will enhance our knowledge even more."
The 2023 program also included a high-resolution lidar-orthophoto survey that will be used to create a highly detailed base map over a 92-square-mile (237 square kilometers) area covering the Flat intrusive complex, as well as historic placer mining activity/infrastructure within the project area.
Field mapping, sampling, and prospecting were also carried out at Flat this year.
In addition to the geological investigations, crews upgraded and modernized the camp and airstrip at Flat, which will quicken the ramp-up of the 2024 drill program. Both the RC and diamond drill remain on site in anticipation of an early start next year.
"With our camp and drills already in place, we are well-positioned to leverage the knowledge and lessons learned from the 2023 program and achieve even greater success in the 2024 drilling season," Reda said.
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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