TNM Drill Down: Top gold assays of the week July 22-29

TNM Drill Down, released every Monday, focuses on the top gold assays of the past week. Assays are ranked by gold grade x width, as our sister company Mining Intelligence identifies. 

This week’s top intercept comes from Barrick Resources (TSX: ABX; NYSE: GOLD) and NovaGold Resources’ (TSX: NG; NYSE: NG) equally owned Donlin project northwest of Anchorage, Alaska. 

Through their Donlin Gold joint venture, the companies released the initial results from the 2022 campaign, including hole DC22-2040, which cut 52.3 metres of 14.63 grams gold per tonne (grade x width of 765.1) from 233 metres depth. 

The partners’ activities this year focus on a 34,000-metre drill program with tight-spaced grid drilling and in-pit and ex-pit exploration. In June, Donlin Gold’s board approved an additional 43 drill holes and 8,380 metres to infill one of the 20-metre grids to 10-metre spacing. The Donlin exploration team will then input these drilling results into the geologic modelling and interpretation for updated resource models. 

In addition to the engineering studies underway to support the mining schedules and life-of-mine business plans, Donlin Gold said this program would enable the company to proceed with an updated feasibility study, subject to a formal decision. 

The 2022 drilling expands last year’s program and focuses on upside prospects in the ACMA and Lewis pits, where drilling so far has been limited. 

With approximately 39 million oz. in 541 million measured and indicated tonnes grading 2.24 grams gold per tonne, Donlin project hosts one of the world’s largest and highest-grade undeveloped open-pit gold endowments. 

The planned pits in which the existing resources are sited occupy only 3 km of an 8-km mineralized belt, which is located on less than 5% of Donlin Gold’s land position. Current activities at Donlin are focused on the drill program, optimization efforts, community outreach, and advancing the remaining state permitting actions. 

This week’s second-best intercept comes from the New Zealand-based Bendigo-Ophir project. Proponent Santana Minerals (ASX: SMI) reported a top hit of 29.3 metres grading 13.8 grams gold per tonne (grade x width of 404.34) from 165.8 metres deep. 

Resource extension drilling since September 2021 has resulted in a six-fold increase in the Rise and Shine (RAS) zone inferred resources and a three-fold increase in inferred resources in four deposits over a 4-km strike length at the project along the Global Rise and Shine Shear zone. The deposits, RAS, Come-in-Time, Shreks and Shreks East, now hold 1.9 million oz. in 33.4 million tonnes grading 1.8 grams gold per tonne as announced on July 11. 

Drilling continues to expand the resource potential . 

Results for hole MDD051, announced on July 20, and assay results from two further holes MDD054 and MDD056 at RAS are said to be in hand, adding to resource growth potential. 

Freegold Ventures (TSX: FVL; US-OTCQX: FGOVF) delivered this week’s third-best gold intercept from the Golden Summit project near Fairbanks, Alaska.  

Drilling at Golden Summit continues to delineate broad zones of greater 1 gram gold per tonne mineralization over significant widths. Drilling since 2020 has also demonstrated significant widths of greater than 2 grams gold within the interpreted Cleary Vein Swarm. 

Hole 2209 returned 479.1 metres grading 0.84 gram gold per tonne (grade x width of 402.4), from 67.2 metres depth. 

The initial 2022 program will resume the 2021 program looking for deeper, higher-grade mineralization, with an initial 20,000 metres planned. Results from the 2020-2021 program demonstrate the potential for more extensive and higher-grade gold mineralization on the project intersecting numerous assays intervals over 30 grams gold per tonne gold, more than any previous program. 

Four drill rigs have been operating since mid-February. The results of the company’s 2020 and 2021 drill programs and several holes from the 2022 drill program are expected to feed into an updated pit-constrained resource estimate in the fourth quarter of this year.