The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
In a large step-out hole west of Dolphin-Cleary gold deposit North of 60 Mining News – December 8, 2023
Freegold's 2023 program included 37 holes to upgrade and expand the Dolphin-Cleary deposit at Golden Summit and seven exploration holes at the Saddle target about four kilometers (2.5 miles) east of the 19.7-million-oz resource.
Click on image for larger Dolphin-Cleary deposit drill map.
Freegold Venture Ltd. Dec. 4 reported that results from its 2023 drill program continue to demonstrate that mineralization extends well west of the 20-million-ounce Dolphin-Cleary gold deposit on the company's Golden Summit project about 25 miles north of Fairbanks, Alaska.
According to a March calculation, the Dolphin-Cleary deposit hosts 407.54 million metric tons of open-pit mineable indicated resource averaging 0.92 grams per metric ton (12 million oz) gold, plus 282.3 million metric tons of open-pit inferred resource averaging 0.85 g/t (7.7 million oz) gold.
About the time this resource was calculated, Freegold launched a 44-hole drill program at Golden Summit that included 37 resource upgrade and expansion holes in and around the deposit and seven reconnaissance holes at the Saddle discovery zone about 2.5 miles east of the resource.
The resource expansion drilling at Golden Summit focused primarily on the northwest boundary of Dolphin zone, where mineralization trending toward the surface area could help reduce the strip ratio for a future open pit mine and a resource expansion area that extends 1,500 meters west of the deposit.
Highlights from previously reported holes from this resource expansion drilling include:
• 56.7 meters averaging 1.02 g/t gold in hole GS2301 (Northwest).
• 44.7 meters averaging 1.13 g/t gold in hole GS2309 (West).
• 113.3 meters averaging 5.42 g/t gold in hole GS2314 (West).
• 164.3 meters averaging 1.05 g/t gold in hole GS2318 (Northwest).
• 444.9 meters averaging 0.75 g/t gold in hole GS2329 (West).
The latest batch of assays includes strong gold mineralization in GS2333, the most southwestern hole drilled so far at Dolphin-Cleary.
Collared about 200 meters west of the nearest hole, GS2333 cut 276.5 meters averaging 1.76 g/t gold from a depth of 355.7 meters, including a 67.1-meter subsection averaging 4.25 g/t gold.
This large step-out confirms the resource expansion potential along the large gold-in-soil anomaly that extends 1,500 meters west of the resource.
Given the grades encountered so far, the western expansion could also boost the overall Dolphin-Cleary resource grade.
Assays from the best 2023 hole drilled in this area may still be pending.
In October, Freegold reported that multiple occurrences of visible gold were observed in core from GS2335, a hole drilled about 250 meters southwest of the 113 meters of 5.42 g/t gold encountered in hole GS2314.
In total, assays remain pending from 18 holes drilled at Golden Summit this year. This includes five holes drilled in the Tolovana Vein Swarm west of the resource; six holes drilled on the north side of the Dolphin-Cleary deposit, and seven holes drilled at the Saddle discovery zone.
Earlier this year, Freegold reported that visible gold was observed in SZ2307, the seventh reconnaissance hole drilled at Saddle.
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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