Marathon Gold drills 83.07 g/t gold over 1.0 metre at Valentine, Newfoundland
Marathon Gold Corp. [MOZ-TSX; MGDPF-OTCQX] reported the latest drill assay results from the 100%-owned Valentine gold project in central Newfoundland. These latest results represent fire assay data from the latest 15 diamond drill holes completed as part of the continuing infill drill campaign at the 1.5-kilometre-long Berry deposit, and the last Berry drill results to be received from the assay laboratory prior to the year-end.
Highlights include drill hole VL-21-1083 that intersected 7.77 g/t gold over 8 metres, including 28.68 g/t gold over one metre. VL-21-1088 intersected 83.07 g/t over one metre, and 22.13 g/t gold over one metre, and 2.27 g/t gold over 10 metres.
VL-21-1075 intersected 1.57 g/t gold over 39 metres, including 10.06 g/t gold over one metre and including 11.93 g/t gold over one metre, and 4.21 g/t gold over 3 metres, including 11.64 g/t gold over one metre. VL-21-1081 intersected 2.19 g/t gold over 17 metres including 15.95 g/t over one metre, and 21.28 g/t gold over one metre.
VL-21-1076 intersected 2.05 g/t gold over 8 metres, and 3.74 g/t gold over 4 metres, including 13.36 g/t gold over one metre.
Matt Manson, president andCEO, commented: “We are releasing today the latest results from the 2021 infill drill program at the Berry deposit. We continue to see the steady bulking up of this important new discovery over its full 1.5-kilometre length. These results represent the last batch of Berry sample assays expected to be received prior to the year end. We are awaiting results from an additional 80 drill holes from Berry completed as part of the 2021 drill program. These will be released in the new year as they are received, along with 44 drill holes completed in 2021 at the Sprite and Victory deposits. As a reminder, the initial Berry mineral resource estimate published in April, 2021, comprised 640,000 ounces classified as inferred mineral resources in 11.33 million tonnes at 1.75 g/t gold. This estimate was based on 42,000 metres of Berry drilling completed as of November, 2020. The next Berry estimate will be based on over 100,000 metres of drilling completed to the end of November, 2021, and is expected to be completed in the second quarter of next year.”
Manson continued, “Guidance on our 2022 exploration program at the Valentine gold project will be provided in January upon its approval by the board of directors, but we expect another vigorous year of drilling focused on both mineral resource growth and new discovery.”
The results released today are derived from 15 drill holes located broadly between Section 13750E within the western conceptual pit shell utilized in the April, 2021, Berry mineral resource estimate and Section 14680E within the eastern conceptual put shell. All 15 holes were oriented steeply down to the northwest testing for Main zone-type stacked QTP-Au mineralization in Set 1 vein orientations progressively farther out into Berry’s hangingwall rocks.
All of the 15 drill holes returned significant drill intercepts of greater than 0.7 g/t gold, and all returned additional intercepts with gold grades above the 0.3 g/t gold cut-off used in the April, 2021, Berry mineral resource estimate.
An April, 2021, feasibility study outlined an open-pit mining and conventional milling operation over a 13-year mine life with a 31.5% after-tax rate of return. The project has estimated proven mineral reserves of 1.40 million ounces (29.68 million tonnes at 1.46 g/t) and probable mineral reserves of 650,000 ounces (17.38 million tonnes at 1.17 g/t).