American Eagle Gold (TSX-V:AE) Corp said the drilling program at its flagship Golden Gate property, within the Cortez Trend and adjacent to Barrick's Goldrush mine in Nevada, is due to begin soon.
Drill pad construction is in progress and the company will start its 3,000-metre drill campaign shortly. It aims to intercept lower plate rocks, allowing it to vector towards potential gold deposits within a similar geologic environment as Barrick's Cortez Hills and Goldrush deposits, the company noted.
"We are excited to begin drilling at our Golden Gate Property, which American Eagle consolidated, and forms the entire southern extension of Barrick's Cortez facility. Our preceding exploration work has given our team confidence in our targeting within one of the few untested land packages in this region," said American Eagle CEO Anthony Moreau in a statement.
Mark Bradley, American Eagle's VP for exploration and a certified professional geologist, designed this drill campaign. "While previously with Barrick, he was credited with discovering Barrick's Goldrush mine, which hosts 15 million ounces and is slated to go into production before the end of this year," added the company.
Highlights include:
- Drilling will be focused at the Northern Cortez and Southern Cortez targets, located in the footwall of the Cortez Fault zone, 10 kilometres (km) southeast of Barrick's Cortez Hills mine and 5 km southwest of Barrick's Goldrush mine.
- The program aims to intercept lower plate rocks and identify deep alteration and mineralization analogous to Barrick Gold's Goldrush, Fourile, and Cortez Hills projects next door.
- American Eagle plans to retain its rig at the site and expand its drill campaign upon the results of its drilling and further geophysical work on its more than 7,000-acre property.
American Eagle Gold is focused on exploring for a world-class gold deposit on its flagship Golden Gate project, adjacent to the Goldrush and Cortez Mine gold mines in Nevada, which host over 27 million ounces of gold combined.