Mining News: Northern Neighbors: Independence launches phase 2; drilling begins next door to Coffee

Independence Gold Corp. July 21 reported the start of a roughly 2,000-meter reverse circulation drill program at its Boulevard gold project, which borders the Coffee Gold property now owned by Goldcorp Inc. The second phase of Independence Gold’s 2016 Yukon exploration program also will include a rotary air blast drill program on its recently optioned Rosebute gold property situated 58 kilometers (36 miles) south of Dawson City. The Coffee Creek fault system, an important structure that controlled the emplacement of the 2.16-million-ounce Coffee gold deposit, continues to the west and is interpreted to extend into the Denali area of the Boulevard property. Soil sampling at Denali has identified a 1,200-meter-long multi-element geochemical anomaly. This year’s drilling will follow-up drill hole YCS15-03, which intersected 4.25 grams per metric ton gold across 6.10 meters at the center of this robust soil anomaly. A similar structure, oriented subparallel with the Coffee Creek fault, is interpreted to control the 2,300-meter-long Sunrise-Sunset multi-element soil anomaly. At Rosebute, the company is planning to complete 1,500 meters of RAB drilling at the Hudbay zone, which hosts three, north trending gold-in-soil anomalies. Taku Gold Corp., which option Rosebute to Independence earlier this year, intersected 6.2 g/t gold over five meters; 1.2 g/t gold over 10 meters; and 1.5 g/t gold over 20 meters in trenches dug at the Hudbay zone in 2012.

-Shane Lasley