The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
Geologists find Jackpot, Treasure Island on Northern BC project North of 60 Mining News – January 19, 2024
Click on image for larger Jackpot discovery map.
Click on image for larger Golddigger icefields discovery map.
Goliath Resources Ltd. reports that in addition to the successful drilling of three high-grade gold zones along the Surebet corridor at Golddigger, its 2023 exploration program discovered two high-grade drill targets that demonstrate the exceptional potential of this 52,756-hectare (130,363 acres) property about 30 kilometers (19 miles) southeast of Stewart, British Columbia.
Over the past three years, Goliath has outlined three high-grade gold zones – Surebet, Bonanza Shear, and Golden Gate – along the roughly 1,800-meter-long Surebet corridor.
While a resource has yet to be calculated for these zones, the volume and grade of mineralized rock outlined with drilling indicate a substantial gold deposit.
It is currently calculated that the three interrelated zones host a combined 22.9 million cubic meters of mineralized rock averaging 7.74 grams per metric ton gold-equivalent, which accounts for the value of both the gold and silver in these zones.
A back-of-the-envelope calculation using a conservative conversion of 1.6 metric tons per cubic meter of rock puts the total contained gold in the modeled zones at around 9 million ounces. An industry-compliant resource calculation, however, will likely vary from this depending on the actual density of the material, volume of mineralized material that can be brought into a resource, and other factors.
Whatever the resource turns out to be, all indications are that it will get larger, and potentially higher grade, with more drilling.
The new Jackpot gold-silver discovery less than 1,000 meters southeast of the Surebet corridor outlined so far highlights the potential to continue to build volume, and the Treasure Creek gold-copper discovery about 36 kilometers (22 miles) north of Surebet demonstrates the larger potential of the Golddigger properties.
Goliath says new discoveries across the wider property add credence to a plan floated earlier this month to spin the new discovery areas of Golddigger, along with the Bullseye porphyry copper-gold target on the Luckystrike property about 300 kilometers (190 miles) to the southeast, into a new exploration company.
Located within the same high-grade mineralizing system as the Surebet, Bonanza, and Golden Gate zones, it is likely that the bonanza-grade Jackpot discovery would stay within Goliath.
Scouring rocks recently exposed by the receding of glaciers on the Northern BC property, Goliath's geological team discovered a shear zone at Jackpot that can be traced for 500 meters on the surface.
One sample collected from the shear zone averaged 636 g/t gold, 1,690 g/t silver, and 7.96% copper.
This sample was collected from a 15-meter-wide stockwork (vein system) with at least 10 shear-hosted quartz-sulfide veins.
This stockwork of veins is near vertical and strikes north-south hosted within a broader shear zone that can be traced for more than 500 meters.
Other high-grade samples have been collected within 150 meters of the Jackpot outcrop. Highlights include: 44.4 g/t gold, 1,629 g/t silver, and 5.22% copper; 13.5 g/t gold, 32.1 g/t silver, and 0.09% copper; and 8.43 g/t gold, 694 g/t silver, and 0.39% copper.
Goliath said the mineralization at Jackpot, which is volcanic rocks, could be an extension of, or a feeder zone for, the nearby Bonanza Zone. While much of the mineralization at Bonanza is in sedimentary rocks, some of the highest grades are at the contact of volcanics and sediments.
The company will gain further insights into the Jackpot-Bonanza connection with the first drilling at Jackpot later this year.
"We feel confident that as we drill into the volcanics, we will continue to discover multiple zones that lead us to the heat engine that caused the widespread gold mineralization. It is a true grassroots discovery that was found when the glaciers covering this area receded and exposed the mineralized outcropping zones for our team to find," said Goliath Resources CEO Roger Rosmus.
"Jackpot is yet another discovery of outcropping high-grade gold-silver with multiple mineralized veins within a broader shear zone that can be traced for (greater than) 500 meters with 400 meters of vertical relief, which has excellent upside potential for our shareholders," he added.
The Treasure Island discovery toward the north end of Golddigger indicates the wider property potential that could benefit a new exploration vehicle spun out of Goliath.
The district-scale Golddigger property covers a 56-kilometer (35 miles) stretch of BC's famed Red Line, a geological contact zone – most of the major deposits in BC's Golden Triangle are found along the Red Line.
Treasure Creek has emerged as another Red Line discovery. Located on the Cambria Icefields about six kilometers (3.7 miles) east of the Porter-Idaho, a historic mine that produced 27,000 tons of ore averaging 2,700 g/t silver and 0.97 g/t gold from 1922 to 1950, Treasure Island hosts highly mineralized rock that has never before been seen by humans due to previous glacial cover.
Goliath geologists have discovered multiple polymetallic zones over a 450- by 550-meter area at Treasure Island that remains open under the ice cap around its edges.
Highlights from channel samples collected from the recently exposed rock at Treasure Island include: 20.6 g/t gold, 63.6 g/t silver, and 5.04% copper over 0.85 meters; and 3.54 meters averaging 0.13 g/t gold, 23.96 g/t silver, and 2.34% copper over 2.48 meters.
Widespread grab and chip samples collected from this discovery area returned up to 0.04 g/t gold, 126 g/t silver, and 7.15% copper; and 5.85 g/t gold, 20.7 g/t silver, and 1.43% copper.
Goliath said Treasure Island is now ready for drilling, and the company plans to complete 2,000 meters of drilling at this discovery target during the 2024 exploration season at Golddigger.
"Discovering an outcrop along the "Red Line" with such extensive high-grade mineralization is truly a remarkable result and it is now drill ready for 2024," said Rosmus. "It further confirms the team's quality work and the extraordinary untapped discovery potential remaining on the Golddigger property."
The company also reported highlights from the Metallica, Big One, and Honey Pot showings that outcrop from the Cambria Ice Field.
Highlight grab samples collected from these prospects include:
• 2 g/t gold, 73.7 g/t silver, 0.24% copper, 2.62% lead, and 5.43% zinc from Metallica (about 19 kilometers, or 12 miles, east of Treasure Island).
• 15 g/t gold and 351 g/t silver from Big One (23 kilometers, or 14 miles, southwest of Treasure Island).
• 2.44 g/t gold and 24.4 g/t silver from Honey Pot (15 kilometers, or nine miles, south of Treasure Island).
Goliath says multiple other showings have been discovered on the Cambria Icefields and more prospecting, sampling, and other work is required to assess and expand upon their mineral potential.
It seems likely that this work will be carried out by a Goliath spin-out focused on early-stage discoveries.
"The success of the 2023 exploration program further validates the company's vision to keep our known drilled discoveries in Goliath and hold these newly evolving assets into a new company 100% owned by Goliath for a potential spin-out dividend to unlock additional value for our shareholders," said Rosmus.
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.
Reader Comments(0)