OceanaGold drills 73.4 g/t gold over 12.9 metres at  Wharekirauponga, New Zealand, shares up

Oceanagold Corp. [OGC-TSX] reported results from the 2022 resource conversion program at Wharekirauponga in New Zealand and Haile in the United States and the resource growth program at Didipio in the Philippines.

Gerard Bond, President and CEO, said, “Our 2022 drill programs delivered strong results, supporting our focus on creating value through near-mine resource conversion and growth. At Wharekirauponga, conversion drilling continues to define outstanding intercepts within the high-grade East Graben Vein Zone. Notably, our drilling to date has defined only a portion of the East Graben Vein Zone which remains open in multiple directions and, with two parallel veins having seen limited follow-up drilling, highlights the tremendous upside potential of this outstanding deposit.

“Haile exploration in South Carolina focused on conversion and expansion of the resource at Palomino, with the objective of enabling resource growth and profitable mine life extension. At Didipio, the discovery of two new mineralized structures outside of the existing resource represents potential upside to our current mine plan and will be a key focus area for the exploration program in 2023.”

Highlights from the 2022 resource conversion and growth programs are summarized below.

Waihi, Wharekirauponga resource conversion drilling (estimated true width): 73.4 g/t gold and 133.0 g/t silver over 12.9 metres from 448.7 metres, East Graben (EG) Vein, (WKP109); 52.8 g/t gold and 136.2 g/t silver over 11.8 metres from 445.7 metres, EG Vein Zone, (WKP115); 44.4 g/t gold and 97.8 g/t silver over 9.8 metres from 488.8 metres, EG Vein, (WKP107A); 17.7 g/t gold and 38.4 g/t Asilverover 10.5 metres from 405.3 metres, EG Hanging Wall Splay, (WKP112); and 25.9 g/t gold and 42.9 g/t silver over 5.2 metres from 354 metres, EG Hanging Wall Splay (WKP116).

Haile, Palomino resource conversion and expansion drilling (downhole length): 6.83 g/t gold over 100.6 mettres from 410.2 m (DDH1121); 5.43 g/t gold over 73.2 metres from 395.1 metres (DDH1142); 4.46 g/t gold over 83.1 metres from 349.2 metres (DDH1119); and 4.60 g/t gold over 61.7 metres from 421.5 metres (DDH1125).

Didipio underground resource growth drilling (downhole length): 1.90 g/t AuEq (0.87 g/t Au and 0.74% Cu) over 54.3 metres from 4.7 metres (RDUG449); 2.83 g/t AuEq (1.27 g/t Au and 1.12% Cu) over 40.4 metres from 3.6 metres (RDUG450); and 3.74 g/t AuEq (1.91 g/t Au and 1.32% Cu) over 30.0 metres from 4.0 metres (RDUG453).

The Wharekirauponga low sulphidation epithermal Au-Ag vein system is located approximately 10 km to the north of the company’s Waihi Gold Mine. Wharekirauponga hosts an existing Indicated Resource of 1.5 million tonnes grading 13.5 g/t gold and 26.6 g/t silver for 0.64 million ounces of gold and 1.26 million ounces of silver within the East Graben Vein (EG). Inferred Resources total 2.3 million tonnes of 9.4 g/t Au and 21.8 g/t Ag for 0.70 million ounces of gold and 1.62 million ounces of silver, with more than 80% of the Inferred Resource contained within the EG and two high-grade footwall veins (collectively, the EG Vein Zone).

Since the March 2022 mineral resource estimate, 5,829 meters has been drilled at Wharekirauponga, predominantly on resource conversion of the EG Vein Zone, in addition to a further 679 mettres supporting geohydrological and geotechnical studies.

At Haile, the company has defined a pipeline of underground, sediment hosted gold, exploration opportunities including Horseshoe, Horseshoe Extension and Palomino, all of which occupy similar structural settings across a strike length of 800 metres.

Based on the 2021 program consisting of 7,046 metres in 16 holes, a Palomino resource was reported in March 2022 with an Indicated Resource of 2.3 million tonnes grading 2.79 g/t Au for 0.20 million ounces of gold and an Inferred Resource of 3.6 million tonnes at a grade of 2.3 g/t Au for 0.26 million ounces of gold.

In 2022, a further 9,977 metres in 20 holes having been completed with a focus on converting the remaining Inferred resource to Indicated in support of an internal economic analysis and an updated resource estimate, the later expected to be released on March 31, 2023.

At Didipio, mining of the alkalic porphyry copper-gold system commenced in 2013 and hosts a 2P Reserve of 42.2 Mt of 0.91 g/t Au and 0.35% Cu for 1.23 Moz gold and 0.15 Mt copper, a Measured and Indicated resource of 47.8 Mt of 0.92 g/t Au and 0.36% Cu for 1.41 Moz gold and 0.17 Mt copper, and an Inferred resource of 15 Mt of 0.9 g/t Au and 0.3% Cu for 0.4 Moz gold and 0.04 Mt copper.

In morning trading, shares of OceanaGold gained $0.165 to $2.585.