Liberty Gold reports oxide gold from Black Pine ahead of initial resource

With an initial resource estimate for its past-producing Black Pine project in Idaho expected in the second quarter, Liberty Gold (TSX: LGD) has released assay results for the final 35 reverse circulation (RC) drillholes completed as part of last year’s 43-875-metre RC program at the site.

The results were from five targets, the D-1, D-2 and D-3 zones within Liberty’s “Discovery Focus Area” and assays from the M and Rangefront zones that are also within the Plan of Operations boundary.

Drill highlights from the Focus Area included 45.7 metres of 0.9 gram gold per tonne starting at 234.7 metres; 44.2 metres of 1.14 grams gold per tonne from 132.6 metres; 62.5 metres of 0.91 gram gold per tonne starting at 179.8 metres; and 22.9 metres of 4.34 grams gold per tonne from 181.4 metres.

The D-3 zone covers an area of approximately 500 metres by 300 metres and appears to be connected to the greater Focus Area through a halo of lower-grade mineralization. Step-out intercepts suggest an expansion of this area toward the F Zone, 700 metres to the south, and eastwards, underneath the D-1 Zone.

The Southeast Extension portion of D-1 also appears to grow down-dip and to the north of a historic pit with potential for a connection with the D-2 South area.

Drilling at the M Zone, 1,000 metres outside of the Discovery Focus Area returned 38.1 metres of 1.26 grams gold starting at 89.9 metres. The Rangefront target, 1.5 km from the key are,a returned a 12.2-metre interval of 0.41 gram gold starting at 62.5 metres.

The 1.5-km distance between Rangefront and the Discovery Focus Area has not been drilled. Liberty’s recent permit amendments now allow the company to access these grounds, which will be a focus of this year’s exploration. The amended Plan of Operations expands the drill permit area by 4.6 sq. km to 11.9 sq. km.

“We are happy to finalize all of the RC drilling from the 2020 program, which was highly successful by any measure,” Cal Everett, Liberty Gold’s president and CEO, said in a news release. “The 2020 program resulted in a significant new discovery at the D-3 zone, and virtually all of the regional targets returned mineralized intercepts. With the results in, we have begun work on a long-anticipated resource estimate, a major milestone on the road to advancing Black Pine as a development project.”

Three-dimensional modelling of the Black Pine system suggests that the D-1 and D-2 zones may be in the hangingwall of a fault system. Both of these areas are open down-dip with step-out drilling planned for 2021.

Assays are pending for five core holes completed last year. The 2021 drill program is scheduled to kick off in April.

Black Pine produced 435,000 gold oz. between 1992 and 1997 from five shallow open pits.

Geordie Mark, who covers Liberty Gold at Haywood Securities, noted that with results from the project to date, the company “has demonstrated further confirmation of the targeted thesis of widespread oxide gold mineralization within the core Black Pine area, and extensions continuing to demonstrate grade-continuity, and favourable heap leach compatible metallurgy.”

He has a buy rating on the company’s shares and a price target of $3.15 per share. (At press time Liberty Gold was trading at $1.45 per share within a 52-week trading range of 60¢ and $2.40.

“We continue to be encouraged by ongoing exploration success at Black Pine, and view the company to be well-positioned for resource growth over the near-term,” he wrote in a research note to clients. “Furthermore, given the company’s oxide dominant asset base and attractive relative valuation, we view LGD to be a notable downstream M&A target in a tier-one jurisdiction.”