HighGold Mining Inc (CVE:HIGH) (OTCQX:HGGOF) said drilling at its Northeast Offset (NEO) target at its flagship Johnson Tract project in Alaska, had shown the area to be a distinct mineralized zone separate from the JT deposit.
Wednesday's reported assays hail from two holes, which showed, significantly new VMS-style mineralization in one, with highlights including 7.8 meters (m) at 6.1% zinc, 1.6% lead, 0.2% copper, 0.7 g/t gold and 36 g/t silver.
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That included at intercept of 3.9m at 9.1% zinc, 2.3% lead, 0.3% copper, 0.8 g/t gold and 47 g/t silver.
HighGold added that it now recognized that the mineralization is far more widespread between the JT deposit and the NEO target within the prospective Dacite Tuff stratigraphy than had been previously understood.
"These advancements in our understanding of the Johnson Tract geology represent a significant turning point for the project as they highlight the potential for mineralization anywhere within the key Dacite Tuff host stratigraphy northeast of the JT Deposit,” said the company's CEO Darwin Green.
"Equally important, it means that the 2020 NEO drilling was centered too far to the west and the true target for the fault displaced offset of the main deposit still lies farther to the east."
Green said drilling of this more easterly target this year will focus along a 600m long gap between the main JT Deposit and NEO, which has, as yet, been subject to little to no testing.
Also drilled will be JT deposit expansion targets (building on the success of 2020) along with other Dacite Tuff hosted targets, including the new VMS-style mineralization, and new discovery-focused regional prospect targets, he noted.
Last year's drilling at Johnson Tract totaled 16,418m in 32 completed holes. Assays remain outstanding for ten holes.
The NEO target lies between 500 and 800 meters to the northeast of the JT deposit.
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