Ascot Resources drills 98.84 g/t gold over 6.48 metres at Premier, British Columbia
Ascot Resources Ltd. [TSX-AOT; OTCQX-AOTVF] reported the third batch of assay results from the 2023 exploration drill program at the company’s Premier gold project (PGP), located on Nisga’a Nation treaty lands in the prolific Golden Triangle of northwestern British Columbia.
This release summarizes the initial batch of assay results from this season’s surface drilling program for infill and exploration purposes at the Big Missouri deposit, approximately 6 km north of the Premier mill. Underground mine development commenced at Big Missouri in 2022, and crews are currently mining and stockpiling mineralized material as development advances.
Highlights from the drill results include 98.84 g/t gold (Au) over 6.48 metres from a depth of 51.5 metres in hole P23-2490, including 691.50 g/t Au over 0.90 metres. This is the all-time second-highest-grade drill intercept at Big Missouri and is the company’s highest-grade drill intercept property wide since 2015.; 22.30 g/t Au over 9.72 metres from a depth of 58.3 metres in hole P23-2484, including 98.10 g/t Au over 1.91 metres; 17.72 g/t Au over 5.65 metres from a depth of 21.4 metres in hole P23-2494, including 31.90 g/t Au over 1.60 metres.
True widths are estimated to be between 70% and 90% of reported interval widths.
Derek White, President and CEO, commented, “With underground mine development at Big Missouri having started last year, this is an opportune time to have intercepted some of the highest-grade gold mineralization in Ascot’s history. In particular, the 692 gram-per-tonne intercept from hole P23-2490 is located in an area currently scheduled to be mined next year, and as such we are eager to exploit this material early in the mine life. Our surface drill program was recently completed, and we look forward to releasing assay results over the next several months.”
Drilling for the 2023 exploration season at the Big Missouri deposit was conducted from early August until this past week, during which time 72 holes were drilled from surface for a total of 6,539 metres. The initial batch of assay results in this release contains the first seventeen holes totaling 1,246 metres, drilled from pads 23-BM1 and 23-BM2 that were aimed at stopes to the north of the S-1 pit at the Big Missouri deposit.
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.
There was visible gold in drill core from drill hole P23-2490 with a corresponding gold assay of 691.50 g/t Au, the second highest-grade assay of all-time from the Big Missouri deposit.
Concurrent with progressing the development of Premier, the company continues to successfully explore its properties for additional high-grade underground resources.