i-80 Gold Corp has revealed that exploration drilling at the company's Granite Creek property in Humboldt County, Nevada continues to provide impressive results in step-out drilling completed at multiple gold horizons.
The primary target of surface drilling is the South Pacific Zone where high-grade mineralization is being defined at depth below, and to the north of, the mine workings at Granite Creek.
The well-financed Nevada-focused mining company shared results from additional targets being tested on the property, including expansion drilling at depth below the Ogee Zone and assessing the down–dip potential of mineralization contained within the Mag Zone. The drilling is part of the expanded 30,000-metre (m) drill program from both surface and underground.
READ: i-80 Gold intersects high-grade gold in underground drilling at its Granite Creek
The Ogee Zone is one of the primary zones currently being developed for underground mining and was partially mined in 2012 and 2013. Drilling from surface and underground is designed to elevate resources to reserves. Hole iGS21-15, the first hole drilled to test the Ogee Zone and it intersected one of the widest intervals of mineralization, 7.4 grams per ton (g/t) gold (Au) across 73.2m, around 200m below the bottom level of the mine.
Higher grade intercepts within the broader interval include 13.3 g/t Au across 13.1m, 20.3 g/t Au across 7.5m, and 10.1 g/t Au across 17.5m.
This intercept continues to confirm the significant upside opportunity at Granite Creek and step-out drilling is being completed to expand mineralization along strike and at depth where the deposit remains open. The Ogee Zone is located immediately south of the South Pacific Zone that has been upgraded to the primary target of the 2022 program.
"Hole iGS21-15 was drilled to test with core, the down-dip extension of the Ogee Zone where a reverse circulation hole drilled by Barrick in the early 2000's reported high-grade mineralization over an appreciable width," Tyler Hill, the senior geologist at i-80, said in a statement.
"The core hole has confirmed a broad zone of high-grade mineralization and could represent an area of converging faults at depth with substantially increased widths. This could have significant implications on the upside opportunity at Granite Creek."
The Mag Zone
Meanwhile, the Mag Zone is one of the primary zones in the company's planned open pit development program at Granite Creek that is in the process of being permitted.
With the recent acquisition of the Lone Tree processing facility, future work will also consider expanding the open pit zones at depth to access deeper sulphide mineralization, said the company.
Three holes were drilled in 2021 to test mineralization below the Mag pit, all intersecting significant intervals of gold mineralization including 3.4 g/t Au across 12.6m and 3.4 g/t Au across 16.8m.
Mineralization associated with the mag fault remains wide open for expansion at depth and could be considered as an opportunity to expand the mag pit, said the company.
Contact the author Uttara Choudhury at uttara@proactiveinvestors.com
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