Mining News: Drills tap more GS oxide gold

Freegold Ventures Ltd. has released results from an additional 10 holes of its 27-hole oxide resource expansion drill program at the Golden Summit project about 25 miles north of Fairbanks, Alaska. On June 27, the company reported that hole GSDL 17-16 cut 69 meters averaging 1.14 grams per metric ton gold. The oxide portion of this this intercept was 54 meters, starting at a depth of 1.5 meters. GSDL 17-17 and GSDL 17-18, the two northernmost holes drilled during the program, both cut gold mineralization. Hole 18 cut 64.5 meters of 0.51 g/t gold from a depth of six meters. GSDL 17-13, reported by Freegold on June 22, cut 52.5meters averaging 0.56 g/t gold from a depth of 1.5 meters. In mid-June, the company reported results from the first 11 holes of this initial phase of 2017 drilling at Golden Summit. Highlights from those holes included 39 meters of oxidized material averaging 0.72 g/t gold in hole GSDL 17-10; and 56.5 meters averaging 0.51 g/t gold in GSDL 17-11. In 2016, Freegold published a preliminary economic assessment that evaluates a 20,000-metric-ton-per-day operation at Golden Summit – a 10,000 tpd heap leach facility to process the oxide material and 10,000 tpd bio-oxidation plant for the sulfide material. The area being considered for mining hosts 61.5 million metric tons of indicated resource averaging 0.69 grams per metric ton (1.36 million oz) gold; and 71.5 million metric tons of inferred resource of averaging 0.69 g/t (1.58 million oz) gold. The oxide portion of this deposit, which is found largely within the upper 60 meters of the overall resource, hosts 16.2 million metric tons of indicated resource averaging 0.66 g/t (345,000 oz) gold; and an inferred resource of 9.6 million metric tons averaging 0.59 g/t (183,000 oz) gold. The 27 holes completed during the 2017 spring program at Golden Summit were drilled at 50-meter spacing to determine if the oxide resource could be expanded to the north. The results from six holes are pending.

–SHANE LASLEY