An 11,000-ft. drill program funded by Royal Oak Mines (TSE) has resumed at Athabaska Gold Resources’ (TSE) Nicholas Lake gold project in the Northwest Territories.
Having secured the 40% project interest it didn’t already own from Chevron Minerals, Athabaska is spending $800,000 to test five new targets away from a Main zone hosting 980,000 tons of grade 0.46 oz. gold per ton. Royal Oak is funding exploration as part of a plan to earn 33% of Athabaska. While completing the first 4,000 ft. of drilling, exploration crews intersected a mineralized quartz stockwork over a core length of 22 ft., 600 ft. northwest of the Main deposit.
Assays included a 15.3-ft. intersection averaging 0.057 oz. (including 2.4 ft. of grade 0.23 oz.). Athabaska says drill crews will focus on this area because mineralization is contained within a zone that correlates with an extensive induced polarization lying along the north contact of a granodiorite dyke. The company believes the potential exists to establish gold reserves in large tonnages.
Further west, along the same geophysical (IP) anomaly, three holes intersected disseminated sulphides, quartz veining and anomalous gold values. One of five holes drilled to test an area east of the Main showing cut 13 ft. of mineralized quartz vein lying on the easterly project of the best Main showing vein. “This vein warrants further testing,” the company said. Drilling on the western volcanic area intersected two 10-ft.-wide quartz veins and a 13-ft.-wide alteration zone vein carrying gold values up to 475 parts per billion. According to Athabaska, three new targets remain to be tested.
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