Nighthawk’s Colomac Gold Project yields encouraging drill results
Nighthawk Gold Corp. [NHK-TSXV, OTC-MIMZF] on Wednesday January 17 released impressive results from a 2017 exploration campaign at its 100%-owned Colomac Gold Project in the Northwest Territories.
Nighthawk Gold is taking a fresh look at Colomac amid speculation that former operator Royal Oak Mines may have misinterpreted the geology and therefore vastly underestimated the potential around a former open pit mine that produced 528,000 ounces of gold between 1990 and 1997.
The claims and leases that contain the former Colomac open pit gold mine are part of the much larger Indin Lake property, which covers 90,000 hectares and is thought to contain 20 gold deposits.
Five of those deposits are located on the Colomac leases, which are known to host a NI 43-101 compliant inferred resource of 2.1 million ounces of gold, grading 1.64 g/t.
The company said it drilled its first two holes at the Grizzly Bear deposit on the Colomac leases, and four holes on the North Inca gold deposit. North Inca is one of four high-priority prospects lying within the Leta Arm Gold Project southwest of Colomac. The aim was to follow up on high grade gold intersections reported from the company’s 2011 drill campaign.
All holes intersected gold mineralization, highlighted by Grizzly Bear hole GB17-01B that returned 12.60 metres of 4.96 g/t gold, including 8.00 metres of 7.32 g/t gold and 4.00 metres of 13.40 g/t gold. North Inca hole NI17-01 assayed 9.55 metres of 4.03 grams gold, including 3.00 metres of 8.14 grams gold.
The Grizzly Bear gold deposit lies 4 km south-southwest of Colomac high-grade Zone 1.5. Prior to 2017, Nighthawk had not drilled the Grizzly Bear. It is thought to contain 807,000 tonnes at 1.04 g/t tonne gold, or 27,000 ounces.
The company was committed to drilling at Grizzly Bear last year because of its proximity to the Colomac Main Sill (which hosts the majority of the ounces in the current resource estimate), it’s vastly under explored condition, and historical high grade intercepts.
“We are pleased to have been able to drill our first holes at Grizzly Bear before the end of the 2017 program,” said Nighthawk President and CEO Dr. Michael Byron. “While Grizzly Bear is not a silicified competent sill like the Colomac Main and Goldcrest sills, being brittle, it has the capacity to host higher grade mineralization,” he said. “The results from the first two holes have confirmed this, and suggest that a high-grade gold system may be present.”
As a result, the company is planning to do more drilling at Grizzly Bear in 2018.
Meanwhile, Nighthawk said the four holes drilled at North Inca underline the renewed activity in the area that will continue into 2018. This work will focus on extending and potentially connecting the deposits along strike, enabling drill crews to begin to define one or multiple orebodies.
Nighthawk is backed by a number of high profile investors, including Kinross Gold Corp. [K-TSX, KGC-NYSE] and financier Robert Cudney’s Northfield Capital.
On Wednesday, Nighthawk shares advanced 2.94% or $0.02 to 70 cents. The shares are trading in a 52-week range of $1.15 and 47 cents.