Liberty Gold discovers third gold zone at Black Pine, Idaho
Liberty Gold Corp. [LGD-TSXV] reported the first drill results from the 2020 drill program at its Carlin-style Black Pine property in southern Idaho.
A third high-grade oxide gold discovery (D-3 zone) has been discovered in close proximity to the D-1 and D-2 zone discoveries made in 2019. The D-3 zone lies beneath the limit of shallow historical drilling in a stratigraphic unit that is modelled to underlie at least the southern two thirds of the Black Pine gold system. This stratigraphic horizon, the lowest in the 400-metre-thick carbonate sequence that hosts gold mineralization at Black Pine, is the primary host for gold mined in the historic CD pit, but has only been tested by shallow drill holes in two other locations on the property.
Reverse circulation (RC) drilling to the west of the now-amalgamated Discovery 1 and Discovery 2 zones (D-1 and D-2) encountered a thick zone of high-grade oxide gold in hole LBP127 below and laterally adjacent to the historic B pit, where outcropping gold mineralization was mined at a 1.38 g/t gold. LBP127 bottomed in grade, with the last five, five-foot sample intervals grading greater than 2 g/t gold. LBP129, drilled 215 metres to the north, returned 1.60 g/t gold over 29.0 metres, including 2.09 g/t gold over 19.8 metres at the same vertical elevation. Hole LBP127 in the D-3 Zone returned 1.98 g/t gold over 33.5 metres, including 3.93 g/t gold over 15.2 metres, and 1.11 g/t gold over 30.5 metres.
In addition, new drilling in the D-1/D-2 zones:
- Confirms the extension of oxide gold mineralization at shallow depth in the 400-metres long gap between the southeast end of the D-1 Zone and the Tallman pit;
- Confirms the presence of oxide gold in a sparsely drilled area at the transition between D-1 and D-2;
- Extends the D-1 Zone an additional 40 m farther to the west.
A third drill has been mobilized to the Black Pine project, and the current exploration program has been increased from 28,000 to 46,000 metres, exclusive of a core drilling program planned for later in the season. Liberty Gold is well financed to continue to accelerate its exploration efforts.
“The new D-3 discovery will be drill defined in the same manner as the D-1 and D-2 discoveries in 2019,” commented Cal Everett, President and CEO. “The intercept in LBP127 is the ninth-best drill hole that Liberty Gold has drilled to date on a top-to-bottom, grade-times-thickness basis. The combination of several high-grade oxide gold discoveries in close proximity to each other, and in association with recently released excellent metallurgy elevates the value of the Black Pine project. Liberty Gold has increased its landholdings in the project area and has protected our interests on a district scale. Intercepts like we encountered in LBP127 never tend to occur in isolation and we are looking forward to drill testing this new stratigraphic horizon in the D-3 discovery. Two drills are currently focused on and will not wander away from D-3, with a third drill exploring new targets.”
D-3 Key Points:
LBP127 represents a new discovery (D-3) to the west of the D-1 and D-2 zones, two new discoveries of high-grade mineralization made in 2019 below the limit of historic drilling.
Being located in close proximity to D-1 and D-2, the D-3 zone is accretive to the overall gold endowment in the northern portion of the Black Pine gold system.
The new discovery is located in a stratigraphic unit that lies below the unit hosting high-grade gold mineralization in the D-2 zone. This unit is modelled to underlie the southern two-thirds of the gold system and is the primary host for mineralization mined in the historic CD pit but has only been tested by historic drill holes in a few locations.
RC drilling is continuing at Black Pine, with three drill rigs currently operating, testing new targets and expanding on the focused drilling carried out in 2019 over much of the 7.3 km2 permit area. In addition to drilling, Liberty Gold is expanding the permit area to include an additional 4.6 km2. Metallurgical column testing is continuing, with a second metallurgical release from core sampling expected in Q3.
Black Pine is located in the northern Great basin adjacent to the Utah/Idaho border. It is a Carlin-style gold system, similar to the deposits along Nevada’s Carlin trend. The historic Black Pine mine operated from 1992 to 1997, during a period of historically low gold prices, with 435,000 ounces of gold produced from five shallow pits.