Ascot Resources drills 32.9 g/t gold, 216.18 g/t silver over 4.9 metres at Premier, British Columbia
Ascot Resources Ltd. [AOT-TSXV; AOTVF-OTCQX] reported the first batch of assay results from the 2023 exploration drill program at the 100%-owned Premier gold project (PGP), located near Stewart on Nisga’a Nation treaty lands in the prolific Golden Triangle of northwestern British Columbia.
These results are from surface drilling for infill and exploration purposes at the Prew zone in the Premier deposit, southeast of the Premier mill.
Highlights from the drill results include 32.85 g/t gold and 216.18 g/t silver over 4.90 metres from a depth of 273.1 metres in hole P23-2468, including 165.00 g/t gold and 940.00 g/t silver over 0.90 metres; 23.37 g/t gold and 54.28 g/t silver over 6.52 metres from a depth of 253.48 metres in hole P23-2465, including 148.50 g/t gold and 315.00 g/t silver over 0.95 metres.
Both high-grade intercepts from holes P23-2468 and P23-2465 occurred outside existing stope shapes and therefore imply stope extensions. True widths are estimated to be between 75% to 90% of reported interval widths.
For the 2023 exploration season, drilling started on the Prew Zone, where mining is planned to begin at the Premier deposit. After completing 16 holes at Prew, drilling shifted to Big Missouri, and later will shift to the Day Zone. Pending weather conditions in the fall, drilling may shift back south to Premier and Sebakwe. This release summarizes results from the first four holes totaling 1,309 metres drilled from one pad targeting the Prew Zone.
Derek White, President and CEO, commented, “The 2023 exploration program is off to a great start, with two drill holes intercepting high-grade gold mineralization outside of existing stope shapes. This indicates strong potential for additional mineralization to be converted into near-term mine plans. The Prew Zone was initially delineated in 2017 and is where we plan to start production mining at the Premier deposit in early 2024. With additional assays pending from the Prew Zone including from holes that intercepted visible gold, we are eager to release additional results as we receive them in the coming weeks.”
The exploration program at the Prew Zone consisted of 16 drill holes for a total of 5,355 metres from two pads located between the Premier mill and the old Premier pit. The drill holes targeted stope shapes for additional pierce points, gaps between stopes due to previous drill patterns, and extensions along strike and up dip.
The first four drill holes from this year’s program targeted the eastern part of the Prew Zone, and mineralization was generally encountered at expected depths with two outstanding zones of mineralization in the direct projection of existing stope designs up dip (hole P23-2465) and along strike (hole P23-2468), respectively. One new pierce point inside a stope shape encountered a younger dike and one projected pierce point intercepted a base metal zone with anomalous gold. Assays are pending for the remaining 12 holes drilled at the Prew Zone, including hole P23-2480 which intercepted visible gold from a depth of 292 metres.
Ascot is focused on re-starting the past-producing Premier gold mine. Concurrent with progressing the development of Premier, the company continues to successfully explore its properties for additional high-grade underground resources.