Highgold drills 14.8 m of 14.3 g/t AuEq at Johnson Mr. Darwin Green reports
HIGHGOLD MINING INTERSECTS 14.3 G/T GOLD EQUIVALENT OVER 14.8 METERS IN STEP-OUT DRILLING AT ELLIS ZONE, JOHNSON TRACT PROJECT, ALASKA
Highgold Mining Inc. has released assay results from six (6) additional drill holes testing the new Ellis Zone at the Difficult Creek Prospect ("DC"), located four (4) km northeast of the Company's 1.05 Moz indicated at 9.4 g/t gold equivalent ("AuEq") JT Deposit (3.0 g/t AuEq cut-off grade). Difficult Creek is one of several district-scale prospects being explored by Highgold on the Johnson Tract project ("Johnson Tract", "JT" or the "Project") in Southcentral Alaska, USA.
Ongoing diamond drilling continues to focus on the Ellis Zone where step-out drilling on 25 meter centres has returned strong mineralization west and down-dip of recently released hole DC22-043 with 21.68 g/t Au, 30 g/t Ag, 0.61% Cu, 4.20% Zn over 11.9 meters ( See Highgold press release dated September 12, 2022 ). The new intersections have expanded the footprint of the wide, high-grade Ellis Zone mineralization by nearly 50% and the zone remains open in all directions.
Drill Highlights of the Ellis Zone, DC Prospect
Drillhole DC22-046:
- 14.8m @ 10.14 g/t Au, 13.8 g/t Ag, 0.28% Cu, 5.97% Zn (14.3 g/t AuEq) including:
- 6.8m @ 21.29 g/t Au, 25.1 g/t Ag, 0.55% Cu, 0.61% Pb, 10.70% Zn (28.7 g/t AuEq) including:
- 1.5m @ 62.50 g/t Au, 10.5 g/t Ag, 0.77% Cu, 0.59% Pb, 10.59% Zn (70.0 g/t AuEq).
Drillhole DC22-045:
- 35.2m @ 4.2 g/t Au, 6.1 g/t Ag, 0.12% Cu, 1.40% Pb, 3.19% Zn (6.7 g/t AuEq) including:
- 1.9m @ 12.95 g/t Au, 37.7 g/t Ag, 13.51% Pb, 31.42% Zn (36.2 g/t AuEq);
- 13.3m @ 7.81 g/t Au, 6.4 g/t Ag, 0.23% Cu, 1.31% Pb, 2.35% Zn (10.0 g/t AuEq).
Drillhole DC22-044:
- 20.3m @ 1.72 g/t Au, 5.6 g/t Ag, 0.14% Cu, 1.46% Zn (2.9 g/t AuEq), in hole DC22-044, including:
- 2.0m @ 8.34 g/t Au, 8.9 g/t Ag, 0.41% Cu, 4.00% Zn (11.5 g/t AuEq).
"The Ellis Zone discovery continues to deliver excellent results with some of the strongest and widest intersections to date coming from the western limit of our drilling," commented Darwin Green, CEO. "We are very encouraged by the persistence of the Ellis Zone mineralization along strike and plan to keep stepping out in all directions as we continue expanding the known extents of the zone. While still very early days, it appears we are well on our way to defining a second deposit at Johnson Tract to compliment the existing high-grade +1Moz JT Deposit mineral resource that is also open to expansion."
Discussion of DC Prospect and Ellis Zone Drill Results
The DC Prospect is located four (4) kilometers northeast of the JT Deposit and is characterized by a series of large gossan alteration zones similar in style to the +1Moz AuEq JT Deposit that collectively extend over a 1.5 km x 3.0 km area in a broad northeasterly trend. Gold mineralization and pervasive clay/anhydrite alteration are preferentially developed within dacitic to rhyolitic fragmental rocks that are capped by a shallowly-dipping sequence of lesser altered andesite volcanics that are host to a gold- and silver-rich epithermal vein field at higher elevations. The widespread extent of mineralization exposed in erosional windows through the capping andesite supports potential for a large and partially blind mineralized system linking the various DC Prospect zones together over a strike length of 3 km. Drilling in late 2021 resulted in the discovery of near-surface bonanza-grade mineralization, which returned 577.9 g/t Au and 2,023 g/t Ag over 6.40 meters in hole DC21-010. Subsequent geological modeling during the off-season inferred an east-west striking, steeply north-dipping trend to the mineralization that became the focus for the initial 2022 drill program at what is now referred to as the 'Ellis Zone'.
To date, a total of 36 drill holes for 4,935 meters have been completed at the Ellis Zone since the start of the summer season. Today's news release includes assay results for six (6) new holes, bringing the total number of holes released to date to 14. Drill hole lengths typically range from 75 to 150 meters and have been completed as fans of holes in a close-spaced 12.5 to 25-meter grid pattern with the objective of further refining the geometry, geological controls, and grade distribution of this promising new mineralized zone. Mineralogy, veining and alteration are similar to the main JT Deposit, located four (4) km to the southwest, which has been defined from surface to a vertical depth of more than 300 meters, over a strike length of 600 meters and has an average true thickness of 40m.
Drilling to date has now defined the Ellis Zone mineralization over a strike length of approximately 125 meters and from surface to a depth of 100 meters with an average true thickness of 10 to 15 meters. An apparent shallow plunge to the southwest is now defined by thickest and the highest-grade intercepts. The Ellis Zone remains open along strike and at depth and drilling continues to step-out along to the east and west in ever increasing increments as confidence in the geological model improves.
2022 Exploration Program Update
The 2022 Drilling and Exploration Program includes diamond drilling (two rigs), geological mapping, geochemical sampling, airborne drone-magnetic geophysical surveying, preliminary environmental and engineering baseline studies, and general JT camp improvements. Drilling is expected to wrap up in mid to late-October with a total of 10,000 to 11,000 meters completed. To September 23rd, a total of 8,230 meters have been completed in 47 holes (36 at the DC prospect, six (6) at the Milkbone prospect, one (1) at the Kona prospect, and four (4) at the JT Deposit area). For the remainder of the drill program one drill rig will continue to focus on expanding the Ellis Zone while the second drill rig will test important resource growth targets at the main JT Deposit, one of the other core priorities for the 2022 drill season. Assays results will be released on an ongoing basis pending review and meeting Company quality assurance-quality control protocols.