Mining News: Northern Neighbors: Increased exploration, bridge, roads in the cards for 3 Aces

Golden Predator Mining Corp. Aug. 3 said it has begun the second phase of 2016 exploration at its 3 Aces project in southeastern Yukon Territory. With a budget of C$4 million, this program includes detailed soil sampling, structural mapping, geophysical work, road construction, trenching, drilling and bulk sampling. To date, four quartz veins with coarse visible gold have been discovered at surface within a roughly 10-square-kilometer (2,450 acres) central core area of the 225-square-kilometer (55,600 acres) property. The veins with visible gold exposed at surface occur within three of 16 soil anomalies in the core area. Planned phase-2 exploration in the core area includes: 4,800 soil samples; detailed resistivity-induced polarization surveys to identify quartz veins and structural targets; 3,500 meters of reverse circulation drilling to test grade and continuity along strikes to modest depths; and 500 meters of core drilling to augment vein delineation and geologic understanding. Golden Predator said the large diameter drilling will be designed to collect large volume samples to accurately estimate grades in the veins containing coarse visible gold. To lower costs and ease year-round access, the company is building a bridge over the Little Hyland River and six kilometers (3.7 miles) of road into the core area, which encompasses the Main Discovery and Sleeping Giant veins. Golden Predator said previous stream sampling across the larger 3 Aces property and peripheral to the central core area has identified at least 12 drainages. Wide-spaced grid and contour soil sampling in these outlying drainages is intended to outline additional target areas outside of the central core. The company also plans to carry out property-wide airborne geophysics to assist in determination of regional lithologic and structural controls on gold mineralization. The company said newly generated soil anomalies outside of the core area will be more thoroughly explored in 2017.

-Shane Lasley