sonaresources.com
Sona Resources Corp. is a junior resource company based in Vancouver, British Columbia, specializing in gold exploration, development and mining in North America. The Sona board of directors and management have decades of combined experience in the mineral exploration and mining industry, and in managing and financing junior exploration companies.
Since its inception in 1990, Sona has engaged in exploration activities at its 100 percent owned mineral properties in Canada and the United States, as well as small-scale gold production at its flagship property, the Blackdome Gold Mine, in south-central B.C. Since 2002 at its Elizabeth Gold Property, 220 kilometres north of Vancouver, Sona has completed four diamond drill programs that have outlined a 206,000-ounce inferred gold resource.
Sona Resources hits 13.6 g/t gold over 1.5 metres at Blackdome, uncovers new area
Sona Resources (CVE:SYS) said Tuesday it has completed the latest surface diamond drilling program at its former-producing Blackdome gold property in southern British Columbia, uncovering a whole new potential gold area.
Investors welcomed the news, with shares of Sona rising 6.5% to 65 cents as of 11:53am ET.
The exploration program was designed to drill for new gold-bearing structures or extensions of known areas of mineralization, and to outline potential areas for economic development of gold-bearing ore, the company said.
A total of 16 holes were drilled, for 3,176 metres.
In the Southern Zone, hole BD11-08 returned 13.6 grams per tonne (g/t) of gold over 1.50 metres in core length, opening up a whole new area of potential high grade mineralization. The hole was drilled to test for a southern extension of the historically mined No.1 and No.2 veins.
An adjacent hole, BD11-05, assayed 3.3 g/t gold over 1.50 metres in core length, at an intersection down dip from the intercept in hole BD11-08. Another nearby hole, BD11-06, returned 0.7 g/t gold over 1.50 metres, up dip from hole BD11-08.
Meanwhile, hole BD11-04 intersected a separate zone, intersecting 0.6 g/t gold over 1.50 metres core length.
“We intersected a promising new mineralized zone, and we feel optimistic about the assay results,” said president and CEO, John P. Thompson.
“We have undertaken an aggressive exploration program that has tested a number of target zones. Our discovery of this new gold-bearing structure is significant, and it represents a positive development for the company.”
In addition, holes BD11-01, BD11-02 and BD11-03 tested the northern extension of the Southwest Vein and the immediate area, approximately 400 metres south of the property’s tailings pond. These holes only intersected low values, the company said.
Ten distinct structures have been modelled on the Blackdome gold mine property, with the bulk of gold production coming from the No. 1 and No. 2 Veins.
During the late 1980s, this mine averaged over 20 g/t gold delivered to the mill, with a cut-off grade of 10 g/t gold. Given current gold prices, the cut-off grade for resource estimation could be significantly lower, and the mineralized areas not drill tested in the 1980s remain as targets to be tested, Sona said.
Current NI 43-101-compliant indicated resources have been estimated on the No. 1 and No. 2 Veins, with lesser tonnages on the Watson Vein, Vein 11, Vein 18, the Redbird Vein and the Giant Vein, using a cut-off grade of 5 g/t.
At Blackdome, which is located 250 kilometres north of Vancouver, indicated mineral resources are estimated at 144,500 tonnes, grading 11.3 g/t, containing 52,600 ounces of gold. Inferred resources are estimated at 90,600 tonnes, grading 8.8 g/t gold.
The company is aiming to bring the property back into production over the next year and a half at a rate of 200 tonnes per day, with feed from the Blackdome mine, as well as its Elizabeth gold deposit, just 30 kilometres south of Blackdome.
At Elizabeth, Sona has outlined an inferred gold resource of 522,900 tonnes, grading 12.3 g/t gold, containing 206,100 ounces.
Sona also holds a 100 percent interest in the Montgolfier project, located in Quebec, 40 kilometres east of the multimillion-ounce Casa Berardi Mine gold deposit.
