Mining News: News Nuggets: Redstar extends Shumagin, finds new vein

Redstar Gold Corp. July 2 reported that four step-out holes drilled at the Shumagin prospect of its Unga gold project in Southwest Alaska continues to cut high-grade gold in the Shumagin vein as well as tapping a second older system in the footwall. Highlights from the step-out drilling included 5.0 meters grading 9.35 grams per metric ton gold and 27.6 g/t silver, including 1.0 meters of 41.2 g/t gold and 130.0 g/t silver in hole 15SH018. This high-grade intercept was encountered about 100 meters northeast of 11SH010, a 2011 hole that cut 0.55 meters of 738 g/t gold and 408 g/t silver, and 100 meters above BMS-01, a historical hold that cut 5.49 meters of 24.02 g/t gold and 19.4 g/t silver. While hole 18 was the only step-out hole to cut high-grade gold, all four encountered an older, “Ginguro-style” epithermal breccia vein system in the footwall below younger Shumagin-style quartz veining in every step out drill hole. This new vein system is anomalous in gold and silver where Ginguro-sulfides are encountered and exhibits contrasting epithermal geochemical signatures to Shumagin-style breccia veins with distinctly higher levels of arsenic, antimony and mercury. Redstar says the discovery of this new style of mineralization implies that the Shumagin scarp is a structural corridor that has had a long-lived history of repeated epithermal veining and high-grade mineralization. “The high-grade intercept within Shumagin-style veining in drill hole 15SH018 is important as it proves that the area of historic high-grade gold-silver mineralization could be expanded with systematic drilling. In addition, the discovery of the Ginguro-vein is encouraging, as these textures prevail at high-grade gold deposits worldwide, such as at Gold Corp’s Cerro Negro property,” said Redstar Executive Chairman Jacques Vaillancourt. The eight holes drill by Redstar this year along with past drilling has outlined an area of high-grade gold mineralization at the Shumagin prospect for roughly 500 meters along strike and about 330 meters of depth. Redstar said trenching has shown the vein system extends for at least 1,200 meters. Redstar said a planned second phase of 2015 drilling will primarily focus on continuing to trace the vein systems at the Shumagin prospect to the northeast. The company also plans to explore some of the other known high-grade targets located within the Unga gold project.

—Shane Lasley