i-80 Gold intersects up to 18.9 g/t gold over 29.3 metres at Cove, Nevada

i-80 Gold Corp. [TSX-IAU; NYSE-IAUX] has received continued positive results from continuing underground drilling at the company’s 100%-owned McCoy-Cove property located in Lander County, Nevada.

The new results are from drilling completed in 2023 designed to define the Helen zone, the first horizon expected to be accessed at the Cove mine. The program continues to confirm high-grade mineralization over appreciable thickness, with several holes intersecting multiple lenses in the westernmost extremity of the deposit.

Helen zone results compare favourably with initial results from the Gap zone where previously released results included intercepts of up to 12.9 g/t gold over 36.1 metres. In hole iCHU23-04, 14.9 g/t Au over 32.7 m. In hole iCHU23-10, 18.9 g/t Au over 29.3 m. In hole iCHU23-11, 7.0 g/t Au over 119.6 m. In hole iCHU23-14 (including four higher-grade zones of gold mineralization of up to 10.6 g/t Au over 38.3 m).

This release includes results from drilling in the northwest portion of the Helen zone.

Highlight new results from the 2023 drilling program at McCoy-Cove include Helen zone: iCHU23-33: 14.4 g/t Au over 20.2 m and 13.3 g/t Au over 3.7 m; iCHU23-34: 12.7 g/t Au over 24.4 m; iCHU23-35: 10.1 g/t Au over 7.9 m and 14.3 g/t Au over 8.0 m and iCHU23-36: 9.7 g/t Au over 9.6 m and 33.9 g/t Au over 2.8 m

“Deposits with continuous high-grade gold mineralization over substantial widths like those at Cove are rare,” stated Tyler Hill, chief geologist of i-80 Gold. “Our ongoing program continues to confirm that Cove is one of the highest-grade, development-stage, projects in North America. Mineralization remains open for expansion and significant exploration targets exist on the large land package.”

The McCoy-Cove property is strategically located in the prolific Battle Mountain Trend immediately south of Nevada Gold Mines’ Phoenix mine and located within 83 km of the company’s Lone Tree processing facility. It is one of three projects currently being advanced to realize the company’s goal of becoming one of the largest producers in Nevada. In addition to the underground drill program at Cove, the company recently completed a 40-day pump test for the completion of a final hydrological model and full mine permitting.

The program being completed will consist of approximately 120 holes comprising more than 40,000 metres of drilling on approximate 30-metre spacing in advance of an updated resource estimate and economic study. This program is focused on the CSD Gap and Helen zone portions of the deposit while mineralization below the pit in the Cove South Deep and 2201 zones are not being drilled as part of this program but offer a significant upside opportunity.

The Helen and CSD Gap zones comprise Carlin-style mineralization hosted primarily in the Favret limestone. Enhanced grades and thicknesses of mineralized zones occur at structural intersections, along the margins of dikes and sills, and within the axis of the northwest striking Cove anticline.

The McCoy-Cove property comprises a large package of approximately 13,000 hectares covering an area roughly 15 km by 10 km that offers substantial exploration upside as the bulk of work completed to-date has been focused on the main deposit areas.

This work has resulted in several new discoveries that have received little to no follow-up including polymetallic mineralization in the 2201 and Davenport targets. Previous drilling at the 2201, mostly completed in 2014, intersected gold-rich polymetallic veins that returned intercepts up to 182.9 g/t Au over 1.5 m in hole PG14-02 and 40.2 g/t Au over 4.9 m in hole PG14-03. Additionally, polymetallic sulphide mineralization intersections returned intercepts up to 4.7 g/t Au, 311.1 g/t Ag, 4.4% Pb and 8.2%t Zn over 3.0 m in hole PG-02 and 1.1 g/t Au, 132.5 g/t Ag, 0.6% Pb and 9.0% Zn over 7.1 m in hole PG14-08.

A single hole (PB18-02) drilled in 2018 east of the Cove pit intersected 5.1 g/t Au, 410.3 g/t Ag, 5.0% Pb and 5.7% Zn over 2.7 m in the Davenport target that has yet to be followed up. Only three holes have been drilled to the Favret limestone in the pediment area to the east of the Cove pit where the company believes there is the potential to discover another significant deposit. One hole completed in the pediment was drilled approximately 1 km to the east of the Cove pit and intersected 1.7 g/t Au and 364 g/t Ag over 11.4 m proximal to an interpreted large untested structural trend that is a major future exploration target.