HighGold Mining Inc (TSX-V:HIGH, OTCQX:HGGOF) told investors that it is making good progress with its planned 8,000-meter drill program at the Johnson Tract (JT) polymetallic Gold Project in Southcentral Alaska.
In an update, the company said the program is focused on expanding the known zones of mineralization at the Ellis Zone and JT Deposit, testing new high-potential targets as well as geotechnical drilling to inform permitting of an expanded airstrip, connecting road and eventual development of an underground exploration ramp.
An airborne geophysical survey, baseline data collection and environmental studies to support permitting efforts are also included in the program, it added.
To date, HighGold said 2,500 meters of exploration drilling have been completed in 12 holes, focused at the Ellis Zone and the nearby East Difficult Creek prospect, where drilling is ongoing with one rig, and at the JT Deposit, where the second rig is currently located.
"With our geotechnical drilling completed, both drill rigs are focused on our exploration objectives at Ellis, East Difficult Creek and the JT Deposit,” HighGold president and CEO Darwin Green said in a statement.
“First core has been prepped and sent to the assay lab with results pending. Additionally, work continues on collecting data for permitting efforts as we work to expand the airstrip as well as develop the proposed 2.6-mile connecting road both of which will provide for more efficient logistics and economics as we advance the Project.
The company noted that civil engineering field works for surface infrastructure planning and design have been completed, including a shallow 42-hole civil geotechnical drilling program.
A variety of baseline studies and surveys have also been completed, including archaeological studies, surface hydrology, water quality sampling, aquatic surveys, wetland surveys, environmental rock geochemical analyses, and the installation of an onsite weather station.
HighGold said preliminary findings of the program are encouraging with newly discovered quartz-sulphide veins with pyrite-chalcopyrite-bornite-sphalerite mineralization associated with a north-south fault at East Difficult Creek. Results are pending, it added.
The company noted that a multi-year advanced exploration plan has been developed for the Johnson Tract project designed to de-risk the project and support future engineering, environmental and economic studies that evaluate the potential for a small footprint, high-grade underground mine. A key component of this plan is establishing an underground exploration ramp for year-round drilling, it added.
“HighGold is well financed to fund its initiatives, having entered Q3 with a cash and marketable securities position totaling $16 million,” Green added.
Contact the author at stephen.gunnion@proactiveinvestors.com