i-80 Gold drills 9 g/t gold over 14.6 metres at Ruby Hill, Nevada
i-80 Gold Corp. [TSX-IAU; NYSE-IAUX] reported high-grade results from the 2023 drill program completed at the FAD deposit situated on the 100%-owned Ruby Hill property, Eureka County, Nevada.
FAD is one of several polymetallic deposits drilled at Ruby Hill in 2023 for the completion of initial resource estimates for the FAD, Blackjack and Hilltop deposits. The Ruby Hill property represents the core land package within the Eureka district of Nevada, one of the world’s premier re-emerging carbonate replacement deposit (CRD) districts. FAD is a high-grade polymetallic deposit and is expected to add to the company’s already impressive resource base. New results have intersected multiple stacked zones of mineralization in the southeast portion of the deposit.
Highlight drill results from 2023 drilling at FAD: PC23-12, infill hole in the east FAD lobe 50 metres northwest of PC23-28 (five zones): 4.4 g/t gold, 91.3 g/t silver, 8.4% zinc and 0.3% lead over 1.6 m; 4.9 g/t Au, 50.2 g/t Ag, 9% Zn and 0.2% Pb over 4.5 m; 6.2 g/t Au, 57.1 g/t Ag, 6.9% Zn and 0.1% Pb over five m; six g/t Au, 35.5 g/t Ag, 5.8% Zn and 0.2% Pb over 8.5 m; 3.1 g/t Au, 48.8 g/t Ag, 2.1% Zn and 1.3% Pb over 3.8 m.
PC23-22, infill hole drilled on the western margin of the west FAD lobe (three zones): 5.7 g/t Au, 159.4 g/t Ag, 15% Zn and 2.8% Pb over 5.4 m; 13.7 g/t Au, 430 g/t Ag, 15.9% Zn and 7.7% Pb over 2.5 m; nine g/t Au, 92.4 g/t Ag, 12.2% Zn and 1% Pb over 14.6 m.
PC23-26, step-out hole 50 m north of PC23-12 on the east FAD lobe (three zones): 15.6 g/t Au, 847 g/t Ag, 15.1% Zn and 0.4% Pb over 3.4 m; 8.3 g/t Au, 187.9 g/t Ag, 6.2% Zn and 0.4% Pb over 1.7 m; 0.9 g/t Au, 25.2 g/t Ag, 8.3% Zn and 0.2% Pb over 1.7 m.
PC23-28, final hole and farthest hole drilled to the east in the east FAD lobe (six zones): 1.9 g/t Au, 109.7 g/t Ag, 8.9% Zn and 0.2% Pb over 3.2 m; 33.4 g/t Au, 87.7 g/t Ag, 7.1% Zn and 0.2% Pb over 2.1 m; 7.6 g/t Au, 42.2 g/t Ag and 6.3% Zn over six m; 11.4 g/t Au, 65.8 g/t Ag, 0.6% Zn and 0.2% Pb over two m; 4.3 g/t Au, 41.3 g/t Ag, 12% Zn and 0.2% Pb over 3.5 m; 3.9 g/t Au, 185.6 g/t Ag, 11.1% Zn and 3.6% Pb over 25.4 m, including 4.1 g/t Au, 350.1 g/t Ag, 13.8% Zn and 7.3% Pb over 11 m.
The Eureka District has a long and successful history of mining, extending over a period of 160 years (1864-present), including some of the world’s highest-grade CRD mines. From 1866 until 1967 the Ruby Hill district produced an estimated 2 Mt of ore containing approximately 1.65 Moz Au, 39 Moz Ag, and 625M lbs of lead. It is estimated 80-90% of this production came from the original Ruby Hill Mine, located 500 metres southwest of the FAD deposit.
The FAD deposit Is located in the hanging-wall of the Ruby Hill fault and is comprised of dominantly sulfide, polymetallic mineralization. Drilling completed in 2022 and 2023 has successfully intersected multiple horizons of mineralization that remain open for expansion.
“The drill program at FAD compliments successful programs on the Blackjack and Hilltop deposits and our expanded focus on exploring for polymetallic mineralization in the Eureka District to better assess the economic opportunity,” stated Tyler Hill, Chief Geologist of i-80 Gold. “FAD is unusual in comparison to global CRD deposits given its elevated gold grades.”
The FAD deposit is located within the Hilltop Corridor approximately 2 km south of the Hilltop discovery made by i-80 in mid-2022.
i-80 Gold’s goal is achieving mid-tier gold producer status through the development of multiple deposits within the company’s advanced-stage property portfolio with processing at i-80’s centralized milling facilities.