Red Pine Exploration Inc (TSX-V:RPX, OTCQB:RDEXF) has shared a positive update on the Phase 1 drilling campaign at its Wawa gold project in Ontario’s Michipicoten greenstone belt, saying it is progressing “faster than planned”.
The Toronto-based gold exploration company said that in the first two months of the year, the program has completed over 7,680 meters (m) of drilling, or approximately 30% of the 25,000m planned over the January to July seven-month period this year.
Drilling has been focused on resource expansion targets in the Surluga North and South area and the exploration team has started drilling on the Grace-Darwin target, its first blue sky target within the defined program.
Red Pine said that visual gold has been identified in six of the 12 holes (assays pending) completed at the Surluga North, South and in three holes in the Darwin-Grace targets.
At present, the company has 1,203 assays pending at the lab, representing 32 holes which have either not been previously released or have been partially released. Assays from the Phase 1 program are expected to be received this month and continue thereafter on a regular basis.
“We remain encouraged with our focused and sustained drilling program below the existing Surluga and Minto Mine resource, validating our targeted approach,” Red Pine CEO Quentin Yarie said in a statement. “In the Darwin-Grace Mine area, our current drilling has considerably expanded the footprint of the mineralized systems associated with the historic Darwin-Grace Mine. We have indications that the former mine is located at the intersection of at least three different shear zones, and we have observed indicators of gold mineralization in those three structures, including under the historic Darwin-Grace mine.”
Yarie pointed out that the company has increased its workforce to expedite processing of core.
“We have begun prioritizing our core logging within our key zones of interest, with shipping of samples to the lab twice a week to expedite the sample positioning into the labs queue,” Yarie added.
Red Pine’s flagship Wawa Gold project is spread over 6,986 hectares (ha) and hosts several former mines with a combined historic production of 120,000 ounces (oz) of gold. The company's attractive Wawa property in Ontario has Barrick Gold's Hemlo mine to the west and Newmont's Borden mine to the east - the two largest gold producers in the world. The project also has other successful neighbors like Alamos Gold and Argonaut Gold.
Contact the author Uttara Choudhury at uttara@proactiveinvestors.com
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