Rackla Metals drilling Grad Project, Northwest Territories
Rackla Metals Inc. [TSXV: RAK] reported that drilling has commenced at the BiTe zone on the Grad property Northwest Territories.
The Grad property was staked in July of 2024 and immediate prospecting defined strong gold mineralization at the base of the south facing cliff. Further sampling in August identified significant sheeted veining hosted in the intrusive and that combined with the gold, bismuth and tellurium geochemistry made it clear that the company had discovered a compelling Reduced Intrusion-related Gold Systems (RIRGS) occurrence that had never previously been identified or staked.
A UAV (drone) based photogrammetric survey and Airborne geophysical survey were conducted late in the 2024 season. The photogrammetry revealed that sheeted veining and alteration could be observed over a large area, both vertically and laterally outward from the initial discovery, known as the BiTe zone. A 4,000-metre diamond drill program has been initiated to test this gold system.
Three drill pads have been prepared at BiTe to test 300 metres of the zone. A fourth pad has been located along strike of the vein system south of the first pad closer to the intrusive/sediment contact where subcrop sampling of the intrusive returned 1.8 g/t gold.
The drill holes are planned to depth between 200 and 500 metres, testing the zone laterally with two holes per pad. Holes from pad B and pad D will test 85 and 100 metres vertically below holes G25-001 and 002.
The first drill hole G25-001 has been drilled to 208 metres and the second hole G25-002 is currently being drilled, current depth at 48 metres.
The core shows a consistent set of sheeted veining, with density averaging between 5 to 10 veins per metre, containing bismuth sulphides, chalcopyrite and pyrrhotite. Sections of strongly sericitized quartz diorite have been observed with 5% disseminated bismuth sulphides.
To confirm vertical continuity of the gold-bearing system to the ridge top, 350 metres above the drill, a team of mountaineering geologists are working on high-angle (rope supported) spot, chip and channel sampling. Their focus is to sample both vertically and across-strike up to 150 metres below the ridge top on both the south and north faces of the ridge. Work has commenced on the north face and distal to the core BiTe zone while the drilling is ongoing at BiTe.
The Grad Project is fully permitted for the 2025 exploration season. The company obtained a five-year, Type A Land Use Permit from the Sahtu Land and Water Board in April of this year, with potential for a two-year extension.
This allows Rackla to significantly advance exploration efforts, beginning with drilling at the BiTe Zone – a high priority target showing early promise.
All contracts are in place to support the program. The Rackla team will be supported by Horizon Helicopters, Tintina Air, Minconsult Exploration Services, Kluane Diamond Drilling, AFD Petroleum, Trailblazer Expediting, Smalls Expediting, and Selwyn Chihong Mining Ltd.
Rackla Metals is targeting Reduced Intrusion-Related Gold Systems (RIRGS) mineralization on the southeastern part of the Tombstone Gold Belt in eastern Yukon and western Northwest Territories.