Freegold drills Golden Summit

Vancouver — Diamond drilling by Freegold Ventures (ITF-T) on the Golden Summit property in Alaska has confirmed that high-grade gold continues beyond the old workings.

Situated in the Fairbanks district, 3 miles from Kinross Gold‘s (K-T) Fort Knox mine, Golden Summit comprises 17,820 acres. The project has been divided into three areas, designated A, B and C, and Meridian Gold (MNG-T) can earn a 70% interest by bringing one of these areas into production. The company is required to spend US$5 million on exploration over four years, pay a total of US$390,000, and buy at least US$300,000 worth of shares.

Freegold is the project operator.

The portion of Golden Summit that consists of high-grade zones has been mined historically, though it has not been explored for half a century. It is these deposits that Meridian hopes to develop.

The geology of Golden Summit is similar to that of Fort Knox: Carlin-style gold in high-grade underground and surface bulk-tonnage deposits.

Freegold’s ongoing drilling is focused on the Cleary vein, which strikes westerly and dips moderately to steeply to the south. The vein is named after the Cleary Hill mine, which is the largest historic lode gold producer in the district (281,000 oz. at an average grade of 1.3 oz. gold per ton).

Drilling below the old Cleary Hill mine workings along a 790-ft. strike length intersected several mineralized veins and structures in the hangingwall. Gold mineralization was found as fine grains associated with various forms of quartz, together with pyrite, arsenopyrite and jamesonite. Highlights include a 6-ft. interval of 0.283 oz. gold from an unknown vein at a down-hole depth of 125.5 ft. in hole 401 and a 10.5-ft. interval grading 0.449 oz. gold from the Cleary vein itself at a 567-ft. depth in hole 403.

Freegold hopes to persuade Meridian to build a decline to a vertical depth of about 800 ft. to allow underground exploration drilling.

Permit applications have been submitted to allow for trenching and drilling of veins surrounding the old Tolovana underground mine. A second phase of exploration is under way on the nearby Tolovana prospect. Freegold acquired the property in June, and it is considered part of the joint venture with Meridian.