Hochschild Mining PLC (LSE:HOC, OTCQX:HCHDF) reported an increase in estimated resources at the Snip gold project in British Columbia, Canada.
Hochschild is in the process of earning-in 60% of the project under an agreement with Skeena Resources Ltd and is the operations manager.
The resource estimates were the first to be released by Hochschild for the project and follow on from Skeena’s July 2020 maiden estimate.
The project contains an estimated 840,000 ounces of gold at the indicated level, compared with 244,000 ounces previously, and 723,000 ounces of gold at the less certain inferred category, up from 402,000 ounces previously.
“Estimated indicated mineral resources have more than tripled while inferred resources have almost doubled compared to the 2020 estimate with grades at more than 10 grams per tonne,” said chief executive Ignacio Bustamante.
“These results validate our decision to exercise the option to start earning-into the project and provide encouragement for the 2022 drill programme, which began earlier this month.”
THE FTSE-250 company plans to drill about 10,000 metres underground this year, of which about 70% will be infill drilling and the rest exploration.
Hochschild said it expects to complete a pre-feasibility study by the end of the year.