Blue Star Gold drills 2.6 g/t gold over 17.3 metres at Ulu Project, Nunavut
Blue Star Gold Corp. [TSXV: BAU; OTCQB: BAUFF; FSE: 5WP0] provided an update from its 2024 exploration program on the Ulu Gold Project in the Kitikmeot region of Nunavut.
Highlights: Results from drill holes testing both the Nutaaq veins and the inaugural test of the Zebra prospect include: Nutaaq veins return 17.3 metres of 2.60 g/t gold, including 1.0 metre of 23.5 g/t gold, and 6.6 metres of 2.63 g/t gold.
Prospecting samples from the Nutaaq trend returned 23.0, 8.96, 6.03, and 2.49 g/t gold. Prospecting samples from the Zebra prospect return grades of 28.1, 14.6, and 5.01 g/t gold. Inaugural drilling of the Zebra prospect returned encouraging results of 3.6 metres of 1.73 g/t gold, including 2.9 metres grading 2.01 g/t gold.
Grant Ewing, CEO, stated, “Additional shallow intercepts in the Nutaaq trend support the potential for generating an expanded resource base in the Ulu Gold Deposit area. The positive surface work outcomes in both the Nutaaq and Zebra target areas will lead to the generation of strong drill targets for future programs. The single hole drilled in the Zebra area is important in that it confirmed an anticlinal structure at the prospect; this feature significantly enhances the discovery potential as the area is now believed to represent a geological analog to the fold hosting the large Flood Zone resource.”
The Gnu Zone resource occurs within a ~200-metre section of the ~1,200-metre-long Nutaaq trend located less than 1 km from the Flood Zone deposit. The Nutaaq trend is characterized by N-S to NE-SW trending tension veins that are hosted within a thick, locally magnetic gabbro sill. The trend is comprised of seven veins to date including Miksuk, Miksuk HW, Miqqut, Iqutaaq, Qipjaaq and Nutaaq 1 & 2. These structures are known to host both Flood Zone-style mineralisation and polymetallic sulphide veins with high gold values.
In 2024, five holes totalling 906 metres were drilled in the Nutaaq trend. Drill holes were evaluating the results of induced polarization surveys and the inferred relationship of those results with known mineralisation. In addition, prospecting in the area confirmed high grade gold in surface samples. This news release reports on drill holes testing the Igutaaq, Miksuk, Qipjaaq, and Miksuk HW veins.
Next steps include revising the geological model and extending and creating mineralization shells to determine impacts to the current Gnu Zone resource model.
The Zebra prospect is located 1,500 metres northwest of the Flood Zone and 150 metres north of the Gnu Zone and covers a tight fold nose within the gabbro/sediment/basalt package of the ULU anticline. The Zebra area shares geological similarities to the Gnu Zone in that known mineralization is contained within gabbroic rocks and is spatially associated with the contact of the sedimentary rock. Additionally, the north end of the Zebra prospect is an analogue of geometry that hosts the Flood Zone deposit, a tight fold with basalts over sedimentary units. Both fine grained arsenopyrite and polymetallic mineralization contain elevated gold values in the Zebra area (Figure 3).
Grab samples from 2024 confirmed high grade mineralization at surface with two samples of massive arsenopyrite associated with quartz veins returning grades of 28.1 g/t and 5.01 g/t gold. One additional sample of silicified sediments that contained up to 20% acicular arsenopyrite as fine-grained masses returned a grade of 14.6 g/t gold.
Drilling at Zebra tested the hinge of the fold at the gabbro-sedimentary rock contact where abundant quartz veins are found at surface, including 2024 high grade samples of 28.1 and 5.01 g/t gold, and where an induced polarisation chargeability high occurs at depth. The hole was drilled to a length of 261 metres.
DD24-ZEB-001 drilled through gabbro to a depth of 216.6 metres, where a bedded greywacke was encountered through the end of hole. Numerous weakly mineralized quartz veins (po > py), up to 4.65 metres wide occur within both lithologies. Anomalous gold noted throughout the hole is very encouraging. The best intercepts include 1.73 g/t Au over 3.6 metres (44.5-48.1 metres), and 0.61 g/t Au over 5.7 metres (226.0-231.7 metres), including 5.18 g/t Au over 0.5 metres.
Final assay results have been received and are being reviewed and interpreted. Deposit modeling is underway utilizing the compiled field data to determine impacts to the resource base, pipeline target prioritization, and pre-planning for 2025. Incremental work this season is expected to lead to future discoveries to grow the resource base of both gold and base metals across the Ulu Project and Roma Project in the Kitikmeot Region of Nunavut.
Blue Star is a mineral exploration and development company focused in Nunavut, Canada. Blue Star’s landholdings total 270 km2 of prospective and underexplored mineral properties in the High Lake Greenstone Belt. The company owns the Ulu Gold Project, comprised of the Ulu Mining Lease and Hood River Property, and the Roma Project.
A significant high-grade gold resource exists at the Flood Zone deposit (Ulu Mining Lease), and numerous high-potential exploration targets (gold and critical minerals) occur throughout the company’s extensive landholdings, providing Blue Star with excellent resource growth potential. The site of the future deep-water port at Grays Bay is 40-100 km to the north of the properties, and the proposed route corridor for the all-weather Grays Bay Road passes close by the Roma and Ulu Gold Projects.