i-80 Gold discovers high-grade zinc at Ruby Hill, Nevada
i-80 Gold Corp. [IAU-TSX; IAUX-NYSE] has discovered high-grade zinc mineralization from the first hole drilled to test the Hilltop Corridor at the 100%-owned Ruby Hill property located in Eureka County, Nevada.
In addition to work completed on gold targets, including the Ruby Deeps deposit, the company is drill testing multiple target areas for the potential to host polymetallic and base metal mineralization. This program has yielded substantial success with three new discoveries having been made in the first dozen holes drilled. In addition to this new intercept within the Hilltop Corridor “South Blackjack” target, i-80 has announced the recent discoveries of high-grade, polymetallic CRD (Carbonate Replacement Deposit) mineralization in the Upper and Lower Hilltop Zones. The first hole testing the Hilltop Corridor (iRH22-61) intersected high-grade mineralization grading 12.3% zinc over 39.6 metres.
This intercept is located approximately 300 metres southeast of the Upper Hilltop Zone where recent drilling has returned high-grade mineralization including the intercepts that returned the following: Hole iRH22-43 returned 28.3 metres of 515.3 g/t silver, 28.9% lead, 10.5% zinc and 0.9 g/t gold. iRH22-53 returned 18.3 metres of 631.3 g/t silver, 33.0% lead, 7.4% zinc and 1.9 g/t gold. iRH22-55 returned 10.0 metres of 908.7 g/t silver, 15.7% lead, 1.1% zinc and 60.2 g/t gold.
The new intercept in the South Blackjack target is located approximately 450 metres to the south of the Blackjack deposit in an area where no previous drilling has been completed.
The Hilltop Corridor is an alluvial covered, structural trend, spanning several kilometres from the Archimedes pit to the nearby FAD deposit being drilled by Paycore Minerals and is believed to be host to multiple feeder fault structures. This corridor is largely untested by previous drilling owing to the alluvial cover. Hole iRH22-61 is the first hole drilled to test this target, successfully intersecting high-grade zinc mineralization in the interpreted southern projection of the East Archimedes fault structure along the Graveyard Flats stock margin that returned an impressive interval of 12.3% zinc over 39.6 metres.
This discovery is located approximately 450 metres south of known mineralization in the Blackjack (skarn) deposit that is currently being drilled by i-80 and located immediately below the Archimedes pit. This new mineralized intercept is believed to represent either the southern strike extension of the Blackjack deposit or a new zone of skarn mineralization proximal to the Graveyard Flats intrusive complex. If it is the strike extension of the Blackjack deposit, it would increase the strike length of known mineralization from approximated 150 metres to a minimum of 600 metres. Drilling is currently underway at Blackjack and additional drilling will be completed in the vicinity of iRH22-61. This target area remains open in all directions.
“Our ongoing drill program continues to confirm the substantial upside potential of the Ruby Hill Property with our new discoveries ranking amongst the highest-grade new discoveries being made anywhere in the world,” stated Ewan Downie, CEO. “This property provides i-80 with significant optionality as it is host to oxide gold, sulphide gold, poly-metallic CRD and skarn base metal mineralization. All deposits are located in close proximity to the underground infrastructure being planned in 2023.”
The company is planning to add an additional core rig to accelerate the advancement of the multiple mineralized zones within the Hilltop Corridor and also to further test a new gold target recently identified.
“We have realized unparalleled success in 2022 exploration campaign at Ruby Hil,” stated Tyler Hill, Senior Geologist. “Significant expansion at Ruby Deeps, new discoveries at Hilltop and now high-grade mineralization in the eastern portion of the Hilltop Corridor have made for an exciting year. All deposits at Ruby Hill remain open for expansion.”
Upper and Lower Hilltop Zones: Ongoing drilling is being completed to expand polymetallic CRD mineralization recently discovered at the Hilltop target on the south side of the Archimedes pit. Additional results from Hilltop
The initial hole drilled to test the Lower Hilltop target (iRH22-25) intersected multiple zones of mineralization including 0.1 g/t gold, 238.8 g/t silver, 11.0% zinc and 9.0 % lead over 9.4 metres and 0.2 g/t gold, 469.5 g/t Asilver 11.8% zinc and 18.2 % lead over 2.1 metres. Lower Hilltop mineralization is closely associated with “Bullwhacker sill” below the Archimedes pit and several follow-up holes have been drilled to test this target area with results pending.
Geophysical surveys have also been completed over the discovery area, including downhole electromagnetic and surface and induced polarization surveys, in an effort to identify additional massive sulfide targets. Early interpretation of the IP survey and the results from an earlier completed Titan MT survey have identified several untested, large-scale, anomalies within the Hilltop Corridor that will be the targets of future drilling at Ruby Hill.