First Vanadium drills for gold under vanadium resource

First Vanadium Corp. [FVAN-TSXV; FVANF-OTCQX; 1PY-FSE] said Friday November 6 that it has resumed reverse circulation drilling on a high-grade gold target located below the vanadium resource on its Carlin Vanadium Project near Elko, Nevada.

The announcement comes just days after First Vanadium said reverse circulation drilling confirmed the presence of a large-scale Carlin-type gold system on the property. On the strength of those results, drilling has resumed with multiple holes planned, now shifting to assess the extent and intensity of the system and to begin vectoring towards its heart.

First Vanadium shares fell 3.5% or $0.02 to 55 cents on volume of 259,559. The shares are currently trading in a 52-week range of 61 cents and $12.50.

First Vanadium said the gold target was identified by Dave Mathewson, a former regional exploration manager with Newmont Goldcorp Corp. The company said it was Mathewson who has interpreted a Carlin-style high-grade gold target at depth on the vanadium project within Nevada’s prolific Carlin Gold Trend. The gold target is largely unexplored and has been identified at depth, the company said.

“A very real and significant gold target exists on the Carlin Vanadium Project,” Mathewson said. “It occurs at the intersection of three large structures, oriented north-south, northwest and northeast, respectively.”

As of February 1, 2019, First Vanadium has outlined an indicated resource of 24.64 million tonnes of grade 0.615% V₂O₅ or 303 million pounds using a cut-off grade of 0.3% V₂O₅.  On top of that is an inferred resource of 7.19 million tonnes of 0.520% vanadium or 75 million pounds.

The deposit is considered to be the largest, highest grade primary vanadium deposit in North America, First Vanadium said. It is also the basis for a preliminary economic assessment expected to be completed in by Q1 2020.