Ascot Resources drills 58.18 g/t gold over 1.99 metres at Premier project, British Columbia
Ascot Resources Ltd. [TSX-AOT; OTCQX-AOTVF] reported the fourth and final batch of assay results from the 2023 exploration drill program at the company’s Premier gold project, located on Nisga’a Nation treaty lands in the prolific Golden Triangle of northwestern British Columbia.
This release summarizes the final batch of assay results from this season’s surface drilling program for in-fill and exploration purposes at the Big Missouri deposit, approximately 6 km north of the Premier mill. Underground mine development towards various stoping areas is progressing at Big Missouri, and the stopes targeted in drilling from this release are in the near-term mine plan.
Highlights from the drill results include 58.18 g/t gold over 1.99 metres from a depth of 70.8 metres in hole P23-2532, including 77.45 g/t Au over 0.99 metres; 9.89 g/t Au over 6.94m from a depth of 22.7m in hole P23-2509B, including 51.00 g/t Au over 1.19m; 8.26 g/t Au over 7.35m from a depth of 7.35m in hole P23-2506, including 30.88 g/t Au over 1.44m; and 8.26 g/t Au over 5.57m from a depth of 16.9m in hole P23-2499, including 15.75 g/t Au over 1.27m.
: True widths are estimated to be between 70% to 90% of reported interval widths.
Derek White, President and CEO, commented, “Our 2023 surface drilling program finished on a high note, with many planned stope shapes at Big Missouri being confirmed and, in some cases, expanded. We look forward to exploiting this material in the coming months and processing it at the Premier mill, where we anticipate starting pre-commissioning shortly. Similar confirmatory and expansion results were achieved in 2023 at the Prew Zone of the Premier Deposit, where underground access development is also being progressed. Overall, the 2023 drill program enhances our confidence in the geological model, which is all the more important as we become Canada’s next gold producer.”
Drilling for the 2023 exploration season at the Big Missouri deposit was conducted from early August until the end of October, during which time 72 holes were drilled from surface for a total of 6,539 metres. This second and final batch of assay results are from 55 holes totaling 5,293 metres, drilled from six pads, and including three holes drilled at the Day Zone on the western side of the Big Missouri Ridge. 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.
Three holes (P23-2515 to 2517) were drilled at the Day Zone on the western side of the Big Missouri ridge, where the Company had previously drilled gold mineralization over a strike length of 550 metres and demonstrated potential expansion by a further 800 metres through IP geophysics in 2023. While anomalous gold grades as high as 7.7 g/t were encountered at the predicted intervals, more follow-up drilling will be required in the area in subsequent drill seasons to test the 1,000-metre unexplored gap between Day Zone and Martha Ellen deposit to the northwest.
Ascot is a Canadian junior exploration and development company focused on re-starting the past producing Premier gold mine BC’s prolific Golden Triangle. Concurrent with progressing the development of Premier, the company continues to successfully explore its properties for additional high-grade underground resources.