Highgold rallies on impressive Alaska drilling news

Highgold Mining Inc. [HIGH-TSXV] on Tuesday November 5 released highly impressive drilling results from its flagship Johnson Tract gold (copper-zinc) property in south-central Alaska. Assay results from the first two holes of a nine-hole drill program include 107.8 metres grading 19.55 g/t gold equivalent in JT19-082.

Highgold is a mineral exploration company with a focus on high-grade gold projects in North America. In addition to Johnson Tract, the company has a portfolio of gold projects in the Timmins, Ontario, region.

When trading in the shares resumed on Tuesday, the shares rose 17% or 25 cents to $1.75. The shares are currently trading in a 52-week range of 78 cents and $1.55.

The Johnson Tract Project is an advanced stage polymetallic (gold, copper, zinc, silver, lead) project located near tidewater. Highgold holds a 100% interest in the project covering 8,475 hectares under a lease agreement with the Cook Inlet Region, Inc. (CIRI). The agreement includes the Johnson Tract deposit and gives CIRI certain back-in rights.

CIRI is one of 12-land based Alaska Native Regional Corporations created by the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971. It is owned by approximately 9,000 shareholders of Alaska Native descent and is south-central Alaska’s largest private landowner.

The Johnson Tract deposit was drilled by previous operators in 1982 and 1993. In 1982 Anaconda Minerals reported 108.6 metres grading 10.39 g/t gold, 7.64% zinc, 0.71% copper, 2.01% lead, and 8.1 g/t silver, including 48 metres grading 21.1 g/t gold, 9.93% zinc, 0.88% copper, 2.86% lead and 12.3 g/t silver.

Hole JT19-082, drilled by Highgold, is the first new drill hole completed on this property in 25 years. It was designed as a twin of historic drill hole JT93-065 for validation purposes for future resource estimation. Historic drill hole JR93-065 returned 99.7 metres of 16.95 g/t gold equivalent.

“What makes the mineralization even more impressive is the occurrence of high-grade copper and zinc along with the gold,” he said.

Highland said the six-week drill program included nine core holes for a total of 2,247 metres of diamond drilling within the JT deposit. The main objectives were to confirm, better define and expand the JT deposit. Hole JT19-082, although designed to twin historic hole JT93-065, cuts the deeper, higher-grade portion of the known zone.

HIghgold plans to use the new drill data in combination with the validated historic drill data to generate an initial NI 43-101 compliant mineral resource for Johnson. Assay results for the remaining seven holes are pending.

In addition to drilling, Highgold said it completed a comprehensive field program of prospecting, geological mapping and geochemical sampling on numerous regional targets in the vicinity of the JT deposit. “Multiple drill targets have been identified, including the fault offset continuation of the JT deposit and other prospects in the vicinity,” the company said.

Another hole (JT19-083) was drilled at a shallower dip from the same pad as JT19-082, and tested a large gap in drilling in the upper portion of the deposit.

Highgold’s lease agreement with CIRI includes an initial term of 10 years, followed by a 5-year development term to achieve a mine construction decision, and then a production term that will continue for so long as operations and commercial production are maintained.