Drilling by Newmont (NYSE: NEM; TSX: NGT)-backed Gold Terra (TSXV: YGT; US-OTC: YGTFF) has booked high-grade hits in the Yellorex zone as it works to expand the near-surface resource at the past-producing Con Mine property, the Northwest Territories’ first gold mine. Shares rose.
Highlight hole GTY26-001 cut 20.4 metres grading 8.2 grams gold per tonne from 242.5 metres depth, including 6.8 metres at 18.7 grams; and hole GTY26-004 intersected 19.1 metres at 4.54 grams gold from 336 metres downhole.
“This first batch of drill results confirm the potential continuity of the [Yellorex] zone, as Gold Terra requires additional holes to seek more ounces in the indicated category,” Gold Terra CEO Gerald Panneton said in a release on Tuesday.
Resource expansion
The 10,000-metre winter drill program in the Yellorex zone, part of the larger Campbell Shear at Con is aimed at expanding the 2022 resource from surface down to 500 metres depth, Panneton added.
Con, which started production in 1938, effectively created Yellowknife by anchoring an economy in an area that was remote and sparsely populated in the early 20th century. The opening of Con, located just 2 km south of downtown Yellowknife, led to a gold rush and the start of a permanent community. Con produced 5.1 million oz. grading 16 grams gold from the Campbell shear until 2003, when it closed due to low gold prices.
Gold Terra shares gained 7% to 22¢ apiece on Tuesday morning in Toronto, valuing the company at about $101 million. The stock has traded in a 12-month range of 4¢ to 28¢.
High-grade shear
Other strong results include hole GTY26-002 that cut 15.15 metres grading 3.2 grams gold from about 240 metres depth, including 5.6 metres at 4.11 grams gold; and hole GTY26-003 which returned 10.4 metres grading 3.42 grams gold from 254 metres downhole.
All holes drilled in the Yellorex zone pierced the Campbell Shear, whose gold mineralization occurs in quartz-ankerite and smoky quartz veining with strong sericite-dominated alteration.
The September 2022 resource estimates the Con Mine property hosts 450,000 indicated tonnes grading 7.55 grams gold for 109,000 oz. of contained gold; and 2 million inferred tonnes at 6.74 grams gold for 432,000 ounces.
Gold Terra signed an option agreement in 2021 with Newmont, due to last until 2027, that will give the explorer the opportunity to acquire Newmont subsidiary Miramar Northern Mining. Gold Terra must spend at least $10.9 million in exploration, complete a pre-feasibility study and pay Newmont $8 million.
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