HighGold drills 56.6 metres of 18.7 g/t gold at Johnson Tract, Alaska; shares up
HighGold Mining Inc. [HIGH-TSXV; HGGOF-OTCQX] reported assay results from the continuing 2021 drill program at its 100%-owned 750,000-ounce indicated 10.9-g/t gold equivalent (AuEq) Johnson Tract polymetallic gold project in south-central Alaska.
Hole JT21-125 is an infill hole designed with the dual purpose of collecting material to support a Phase I metallurgical testing program and to provide better definition of the deeper, higher-grade portion of the JT Deposit. The hole successfully intersected a long interval of gold-dominant mineralization with significantly higher gold grade than the average of the JT Deposit resource. True thickness of the JT Deposit typically ranges from 20 to 50 metres and in the JT21-125 intersection is over 35 metres.
Drill hole JT21-125 returned 18.69 g/t gold, 2.43% zinc, 0.47% copper over 56.6 metres, including 31.69 g/t gold, 1.82% zinc, 0.58% copper over 32.9 metres, including two high-grade intervals of 64.74 g/t gold, 1.49% zinc, 0.53% copper over 5.0 metres and 114.37 g/t gold, 3.51% zinc, 0.33% copper over 4.9 metres.
“We are very pleased to report this new intercept from the deeper reaches of the JT Deposit that confirms the strength of the mineralizing system,” commented President and CEO Darwin Green. “In combination with the recent drill results from the DC Prospect 4km to the northeast, the Johnson Tract Project continues to establish itself as one of the pre-eminent high-grade gold exploration projects located in the USA.”
Blue Coast Metallurgy & Research has been engaged to carry out a Phase I metallurgical testwork program on the JT Deposit using selected drill core from the 2021 drill program. The program will complete test work to confirm historic metallurgical results reported by previous operators and identify possible opportunities for improvement; and advance the metallurgy to support potential future PEA-level process design.
The Program will include QEMSCAN mineralogical studies, identification of potential geometallurgical domains, grindability/gravity/flotation test work, and the development of a flowsheet for recovery of pay metals to marketable end products. Two composites are currently being considered from the upper and lower JT Deposit domains, and potentially a third composite from the Footwall Copper Zone. Drill hole JT21-125 reported in this news release is from the lower JT Deposit domain, located at a deeper level within the deposit.
Three diamond drill rigs are currently operating on the project in concert with a regional geological mapping and geochemical sampling program, air and ground-based geophysical surveying, and a Phase I metallurgical sampling program.
The current phase of drilling is scheduled to conclude on or before month end. An updated mineral resource estimate is planned for the JT Deposit in early 2022, following the completion and receipt of all assays from the 2021 drill program. The new resource estimate will incorporate new drilling completed in 2020 and 2021. Over 30,000 metres have been drilled on the Project since the maiden resource.
In early trading on October 13, HighGold shares gained $0.11 to $1.80 on a volume of 1,043,000 shares traded.