Freeman Gold reports bonanza grades from Lemhi project in Idaho

Toronto-based Freeman Gold (TSXV: FMAN; US-OTC: FMANF) has reported near-surface, bonanza grade results from a recent drilling program at the company’s Beauty zone site, part of its 100%-owned Lemhi gold project in eastern Idaho.

The company began an exploration program at the 30-sq.-km Lemhi site in 2020, with the majority of its drilling having been conducted in the central part of the project. However, in late 2021, Freeman shifted some of its exploration work 600 metres west of the main deposit, towards the Beauty zone, as it focused on testing the continuity of veins already mapped on the surface.

Three holes were drilled at the Beauty zone from one setup totalling 328 metres, with hole FG21-003C returning the highest-grade mineralization ever drilled by the company. The hole intercepted 6 metres grading 68.23 grams gold per tonne and 40.18 grams silver per tonne from 57 metres downhole within the hanging wall side of a major fault. This included 3.2 metres grading 128.92 grams gold and 75.59 grams silver from 57.8 metres, and 2.1 metres of 11.91 grams gold and 16.21 grams silver from 68 metres downhole.

Hole FG21-001C returned 1 metre grading 1.41 grams gold per tonne and 18.1 grams silver from 100 metres, while the last hole, FG-21-002C, returned 1 metre of 0.24 gram gold from 63 metres.

Speaking to The Northern Miner, Freeman’s executive chairman, Paul Matysek, said these results represent a milestone for the company, as they are the first grades to come from outside the primary deposit at the project.

“Discovering a shallow, multi-ounce zone in such close proximity is very significant as it can quickly add valuable ounces to an integrated project sharing common operations and infrastructure,” said Matysek.

The Lemhi project is located in north-central Idaho, about 40 km north of the town of Salmon, near the state border with Montana. It has been explored by various companies since the mid-1980s, but had not seen any significant exploration since 2012, until Freeman began its 2020 drill program. The company believes the Beauty zone is open both the north and northwest of the drill locations.

Last July the company released a resource estimate for Lemhi that defined a near-surface oxide gold deposit of 22.9 million indicated tonnes grading 1.02 grams gold per tonne for 749,800 oz. gold, with an additional 7.8 million inferred tonnes grading 1.01 grams gold for 250,300 oz. gold.

Matysek said that once freezing conditions at the site have passed, the company plans to commence a follow-up drill program to test the strike extension of the mineralized zone. The objective is adding results from the Beauty zone that will grow the overall resource for Lemhi to over 2 million ounces.

“The Lemhi deposit is already one of the highest-grade oxide, near surface resources in the U.S. Adding a multi-ounce zone to the mix will set the project apart from others with respect to jurisdiction, permitting and grade.”

In response to the news about the project, Echelon Capital Markets’ mining analyst Gabriel Gonzalez wrote favourably about Freeman in a research note to clients on March 22. Gonzalez believes that “Freeman’s mainly patented-hosted resource, combined with shallow oxide ounces and good metallurgy in an attractive jurisdiction like Idaho allows the company to rapidly move the project forward to production.”

Based on a conceptual, non-National Instrument 101-compliant 1.75 million oz. resource, comprised of the current indicated and inferred 1 million oz. at Lemhi plus 750,000 oz. from additional exploration and resource growth, Gonzalez gives Freeman a speculative buy with a 12-month target of $1.05.

At presstime, Freeman Gold was trading at 49¢ in Toronto, within a 52-week range of 40¢-53¢. The company has 131 million shares outstanding for a market capitalization of $64 million.