SITKA DRILLS 422.7 METRES OF 0.74 G/T GOLD, INCLUDING 111.7 METRES OF 1.24 G/T GOLD AT ITS RC GOLD PROJECT, YUKON
VANCOUVER, BC, June 21, 2023 /CNW/ - Sitka Gold Corp. ("Sitka" or the "Company") (CSE: SIG) (FSE: 1RF) (OTCQB: SITKF) is pleased to announce assay results from diamond drill hole DDRCCC-23-043 (the "drill hole" or "Hole 43"), the third diamond drill hole of the 2023 winter drill program on the Company's 376 square kilometre, road accessible RC Gold Project ("RC Gold" or the "Project") located in Yukon's Tombstone Gold Belt ("TGB"), approximately 100 kilometres east of Dawson City. A resource expansion drilling program is currently underway at RC Gold where an Initial Mineral Resource Estimate of 1,340,000 ounces of gold beginning at surface and grading 0.68 g/t was announced earlier this year (see news release dated January 19, 2023).
Assay highlights from DDRCCC-23-043 include:
- 422.7 metres (m) of 0.74 g/t Au from 4.0 m to 426.7 m (end of hole) including:
- 28.0 m of 0.91 g/t Au from 4.0 m
- 40.0 m of 1.02 g/t Au from 81.0 m,
- 111.7 m of 1.24 g/t Au from 315.0 m,
- 14.0 m of 3.28 g/t Au from 345.0 m,
"The results obtained from Hole 43 are quite remarkable and further illustrate just how consistent and well-endowed the gold mineralization is at our Blackjack deposit", stated Cor Coe, CEO and Director of Sitka Gold. "Gold mineralization was encountered at surface and continued for the entire 422.7 metre length of this drill hole, which averaged 0.74 g/t gold and had multiple occurrences of visible gold. Hole 43 was designed to fill in an area of our deposit model that was missing drill core data and test for mineralization at depth. Although the drill hole was stopped in mineralization at the end of our winter program to avoid any complications that could arise during the spring thaw, it has since been re-entered and drilling is currently underway to extend it at depth. Additional step out drilling to expand both the Blackjack and Eiger gold deposits, both of which remain wide open, will be the primary focus of our 2023 summer field season at RC Gold along with additional exploration drilling to test for continuity across the mineralized corridor (see Figure 3)."
DDRCCC-23-043 was collared at the same location as DDRCCC-21-021 (see news release dated December 13, 2021) and drilled at an azimuth of 005 degrees and a dip of -85 degrees (see Figures 1 through 3). The purpose of the hole was to fill in a gap of data in the current resource model and to extend the higher-grade mineralization in the current resource to depth.
Hole 43 intersected dominantly MQMZ from surface to 111.25 m; metasediments intruded by metre scale MQMZ dykes to 318.45 m; dominantly MQMZ with metasediments to 382.1 m and then granite dykes with inclusions of MQMZ xenoliths to the end of the hole at 426.7 m. Quartz sulphide veins intersected all units with the highest intensity of veining occurring from 250 m to the end of the hole at 426.7 m. Visible gold was noted multiple times in quartz – bismuthinite veins. (see Figure 4).
DDRCCC-23-043 was variably mineralized throughout its entire length with the interval from 4.0 m to the end of the hole at 426.7 m returning 422.7 of 0.74 g/t Au. Significant intervals of higher-grade mineralization include 40.0 m of 1.02 g/t Au from 81.0 m; 111.7 m of 1.24 g/t Au from 315.0; 28.0 m of 1.99 g/t Au and 14.0 m of 3.28 g/t Au from 345 m. Narrower intervals of multi-gram gold mineralization include 1.0 m of 6.95 g/t Au from 27.0 m; 1.0 m of 7.09 g/t Au from 53.5 m and 2.0 m of 5.00 g/t Au from 241.0 m.
Hole 43 was terminated before target depth in known mineralization to avoid complications that could arise with the onset of spring thaw conditions. The casing was left in the hole and the drill rig was left on site in anticipation of resuming drilling efforts once the spring thaw conditions had passed. Drilling at Hole 043 has since resumed.
Table 1 – Assay Highlights for DDRCCC-23-043
HoleID |
Azimuth (°) |
Dip (°) |
From |
To |
Length |
Au (g/t) |
DDRCCC-23-043 |
005 |
-85 |
4.0 |
426.7 |
422.7 |
0.74 |
Including |
4.0 |
32.0 |
28.0 |
0.91 |
||
Including |
27.0 |
28.0 |
1.0 |
6.95 |
||
Including |
53.5 |
54.5 |
1.0 |
7.09 |
||
Including |
81.0 |
121.0 |
40.0 |
1.02 |
||
Including |
96.0 |
106.0 |
10.0 |
2.86 |
||
Including |
173.0 |
203.0 |
30.0 |
1.38 |
||
Including |
241.0 |
243.0 |
2.0 |
5.00 |
||
Including |
320.0 |
331.0 |
11.0 |
2.39 |
||
Including |
345.0 |
373.0 |
28.0 |
1.99 |
||
Including |
345.0 |
359.0 |
14.0 |
3.28 |
||
Including |
315.0 |
426.7 |
111.7 |
1.24 |
*Intervals are drilled core length, as insufficient drilling has been completed at this time to determine true widths |
On receipt from the drill site, the NQ-sized drill core was systematically logged for geological attributes, photographed and sampled at Sitka's 2022 field camp. Sample lengths as small as 0.3 m were used to isolate features of interest, otherwise a default 2 m downhole sample length was used. Core was cut in half lengthwise along a predetermined line, with one-half (same half, consistently) collected for analysis and one-half stored as a record. Standard reference materials, blanks and duplicate samples were inserted by Sitka personnel at regular intervals into the sample stream. Bagged samples were placed in secure bins to ensure integrity during transport. They were delivered by Sitka personnel or a contract expeditor to ALS Laboratories' preparatory facility in Whitehorse, Yukon, with analyses completed in North Vancouver.
ALS is accredited to ISO 17025:2005 UKAS ref. 4028 for its laboratory analysis. Samples were crushed by ALS to over 70 per cent passing below two millimetres and split using a riffle splitter. One-thousand-gram splits were pulverized to over 85 per cent passing below 75 microns. Gold determinations are by fire assay with an inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS) finish on 50 g subsamples of the prepared pulp (ALS code: Au-ICP-22). Any sample returning over 10 g/t Au was re-analyzed by fire assay with a gravimetric finish on a 50 g subsample (ALS code: Au-GRA21). In addition, a 51-element analysis was performed on a 0.5 g subsample of the prepared pulps by an aqua regia digestion followed by an inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS) finish (ALS code: ME-MS41).
The RC Gold Project (RC Gold) consists of a 376 square kilometre contiguous district-scale land package located in the newly road accessible Clear Creek, Big Creek, and Sprague Creek districts in the heart of Yukon's Tombstone Gold Belt. The project is located approximately 100 kilometres east of Dawson City and is accessed via a secondary gravel road from the Klondike Highway an approximate 2 hour drive from Dawson. It is the largest consolidated land package strategically positioned mid-way between Victoria Gold's Eagle Gold Mine - Yukon's newest gold mine which reached commercial production in the summer of 2020 - and Sabre Gold Mine's Brewery Creek Gold Mine. The RC Gold Project land package comprises five underlying properties, namely, the RC, Bee Bop, Mahtin, Clear Creek, and Barney Ridge properties*. The planned 10,000 metre drill program for 2023 is currently underway and is focused on expanding the Blackjack and Eiger gold deposits, both of which remain open in all directions.
On January 19, 2023 Sitka Gold announced an Initial Mineral Resource Estimate prepared in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101") guidelines for the RC Gold Property of 1,340,000 ounces of gold(1). The road accessible, pit constrained Mineral Resource is classified as inferred and is contained in two near/on-surface zones: The Blackjack and Eiger deposits. The Mineral Resource estimate is presented in the following table at a base case cut-off grade of 0.25 g/t Au:
Table 2: RC Gold Inferred Mineral Resource Estimate
COG g/t Au |
Blackjack Zone |
Eiger Zone |
Combined |
||||||||
Tonnes |
Au g/t |
0z Au |
Tonnes |
Au g/t |
0z Au |
Tonnes |
Au g/t |
0z Au |
|||
0.20 |
35,798 |
0.80 |
921 |
32,523 |
0.45 |
471 |
68,321 |
0.63 |
1,391 |
||
0.25 |
33,743 |
0.83 |
900 |
27,362 |
0.50 |
440 |
61,105 |
0.68 |
1,340 |
||
0.30 |
31,282 |
0.88 |
885 |
22,253 |
0.55 |
393 |
53,535 |
0.74 |
1,279 |
||
0.35 |
29,065 |
0.92 |
860 |
17,817 |
0.60 |
344 |
46,882 |
0.80 |
1,203 |
||
0.40 |
26,975 |
0.96 |
833 |
14,506 |
0.66 |
308 |
41,481 |
0.86 |
1,140 |
||
Notes |
|
1. |
Mineral resource estimate prepared by Ronald G. Simpson of GeoSim Services Inc. with an effective date of January 19, 2023. Mineral Resources are classified using the 2014 CIM Definition Standards. |
2. |
The cut-off grade of 0.25 g/t Au is believed to provide a reasonable margin over operating and sustaining costs for open-pit mining and processing |
3. |
Mineral resources are constrained by an optimised pit shell using the following assumptions: US$1800/oz Au price; a 45° pit slope; assumed metallurgical recovery of 85%; mining costs of US$2.00 per tonne; processing costs of US$8.00 per tonne; G&A of US$1.50/t. |
4. |
Mineral resources are not mineral reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability. |
5. |
Totals may not sum due to rounding. |
The Initial Mineral Resource Estimate of 1,340,000 ounces of gold at the RC Gold Project is comprised of two deposits: the Blackjack deposit containing 900,000 ounces of gold at a grade of 0.83 g/t gold and the Eiger deposit containing 440,000 ounces of gold at a grade of 0.50 g/t gold (see news release dated January 19, 2023). Both of these deposits are at/near surface, are potentially open pit minable and amenable to heap leaching, with initial bottle roll tests indicating that the gold is not refractory and has high gold recoveries of up to 94% with minimal NaCN consumption (see News Release July 13, 2022).
The Blackjack and Eiger deposits are in close proximity to highway and power infrastructure, are road accessible year-round, remain open in all directions and are respectively located at the western and eastern end of a large, 500 metre by 2 kilometre intrusion related gold system that was recently discovered on the Property. To date, just 41 diamond drill holes have been drilled into this system for a total of approximately 14,500 metres with results of up to 201.0 m of 1.26 g/t gold from surface, including 82.0 m of 2.04 g/t gold and 19.5 m of 4.87 g/t gold at Blackjack (drill hole DDRCCC-22-040; see news release dated January 11, 2023) and 354 m of 0.41 g/t gold including 72 m of 0.72 g/t gold at Eiger (drill hole DDRCCC-21-09; see news release date August 19, 2021).
Several high priority intrusion related gold targets exist at RC Gold with nine outcropped intrusions identified to date over the 376 sq km property, however Sitka's main focus at the RC Gold Project has been on the underlying Clear Creek Property where a large 500 metre by 2000 metre intrusion related gold system covering the area over the Blackjack, Saddle and Eiger zones was identified. Prior to the onset of the 2023 winter drilling program, the Company had drilled 38 diamond drill holes into this system for a total of approximately 13,000 metres. This drilling culminated in the discovery of the Blackjack and Eiger deposits with an initial inferred mineral resource estimate of 1,340,000 gold ounces(1).
Sitka Gold inherited a wealth of historical and current data from these properties from work spanning the last 40 years. Recent exploration work and the compilation of historical data have defined several mineralized zones with both bulk tonnage, intrusion-related gold deposit targets and high-grade, vein- and breccia-hosted gold targets. The RC Gold Project also has a common border with Victoria Gold's Clear Creek property at its western boundary and Florin Resources' Florin Gold property at its northern boundary.
(1) |
Simpson, R. January 19, 2023. Clear Creek Property, RC Gold Project, NI 43-101 Technical Report, Dawson Mining District, Yukon Territory. |
*For more detailed information on the underlying properties please visit our website at www.sitkagoldcorp.com.
Exploration on the Property has mainly focused on identifying an intrusion-related gold system ("IRGS"). The property is part of the Tombstone Gold Belt which is the prominent host to IRGS deposits within the Tintina Gold Province in Yukon and Alaska. Notable deposits from the belt include: Fort Knox Mine in Alaska with current Proven and Probable Reserves of 230 million tonnes at 0.3 g/t Au (2.471 million ounces; Sims 2018)(1); Eagle Gold Mine with current Measured and Indicated Resources of 233 million tonnes at a grade of 0.57 g/t Au at the Eagle Main Zone (4.303 million ounces; Harvey et al, 2022)(2); the Brewery Creek deposit with current Indicated Mineral Resource of 22.2 million tonnes at a gold grade of 1.11 g/t (0.789 million ounces; Hulse et al. 2020)(3); the Florin Gold deposit, located adjacent to Sitka's RC Gold project, with a current Inferred Mineral Resource of 170.99 million tonnes grading 0.45 g/t (2.47 million ounces; Simpson 2021)(4) and the AurMac Project with an Inferred Mineral Resource of 207.0 million tonnes grading 0.60 gram per tonne gold (3.99 million ounces; Jutras 2022)(5).
(1) |
Sims J. Fort Knox Mine Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska, USA National Instrument 43-101 Technical Report. June 11, 2018. https://s2.q4cdn.com/496390694/files/doc_downloads/2018/Fort-Knox-June-2018-Technical-Report.pdf |
(2) |
Harvey N., Gray P., Winterton J., Jutras M., Levy M.,Technical Report for the Eagle Gold Mine, Yukon Territory, Canada. Victoria Gold Corp. December 31, 2022. https://vgcx.com/site/assets/files/6534/vgcx_-_2023_eagle_mine_technical_report_final.pdf |
(3) |
Hulse D, Emanuel C, Cook C. NI43-101 Technical Report on Mineral Resources. Gustavson Associates. May 31, 2020. https://www.goldenpredator.com/_resources/Brewery-Creek_NI-43-101-05OCT2020-File.pdf |
(4) |
Simpson R. Florin Gold Project NI43-101 Technical Report. Geosim Services Inc. April 21, 2021. https://sedar.com/GetFile.dolang=EN&docClass=24&issuerNo=00005795&issuerType=03&projectNo=03236138&docId=4984158 |
(5) |
Banyan Gold News Release Dated May 17, 2022 (Technical Report to be filed within 45 days of news release) |
Sitka Gold Corp. is a mineral exploration company headquartered in Canada. The Company is managed by a team of experienced industry professionals and is focused on exploring for economically viable mineral deposits with its primary emphasis on gold, silver and copper mineral properties of merit. Sitka currently has an option to acquire a 100% interest in the RC, Barney Ridge, Clear Creek and OGI properties in the Yukon and the Burro Creek Gold property in Arizona. Sitka owns a 100% interest in its Alpha Gold property in Nevada, its Mahtin Gold property in the Yukon and its Coppermine River project in Nunavut.
The Company recently announced an NI 43-101 compliant Initial Mineral Resource Estimate of 1,340,000 ounces of gold(1) beginning at surface and grading 0.68 g/t at its RC Gold Project in Yukon (see news release dated January 19, 2023). A resource expansion diamond drilling program is currently underway.
The Company is also planning additional drilling at its Alpha Gold Property in Nevada where a new Carlin-type gold system was recently discovered. The Company is focused on vectoring towards the high-grade core of this system, which is located on the Cortez Trend just 40 km southeast of the Cortez Mine Complex of Barrick/Newmont.
(1) |
Simpson, R. January 19, 2023. Clear Creek Property, RC Gold Project, NI 43-101 Technical Report, Dawson Mining District, Yukon Territory. |
Sitka Gold will be attending and/or presenting at the following events:
- TakeStock Calgary Capital Event, Calgary, AB: July 5, 2023
- YMA Property Tours, Dawson City, Yukon: July 16-22, 2023
- Precious Metals Summit, Beaver Creek, Colorado: September 12 - 15, 2023
All events are subject to change.
The scientific and technical content of this news release has been reviewed and approved by Cor Coe, P.Geo., Director and CEO of the Company, and a Qualified Person (QP) as defined by National Instrument 43-101.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF
SITKA GOLD CORP.
"Donald Penner"
President and Director
This news release contains forward-looking statements and forward looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. These statements relate to future events or future performance. All statements other than statements of historical fact may be forward-looking statements or information. Forward-looking statements and information are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "appear", "seek", "anticipate", "plan", "continue", "estimate", "approximate", "expect", "may", "will", "project", "predict", "potential", "targeting", "intend", "could", "might", "should", "believe", "would" and similar expressions.
Forward-looking statements and information are provided for the purpose of providing information about the current expectations and plans of management of the Company relating to the future. Readers are cautioned that reliance on such statements and information may not be appropriate for other purposes, such as making investment decisions. Since forward-looking statements and information address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of factors and risks. These include, but are not limited to, the expected timing and terms of the private placement, use of proceeds, anticipated work program, required approvals in connection with the work program and the ability to obtain such approvals. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements, timelines and information contained in this news release. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive.
The forward-looking statements and information contained in this news release are made as of the date of this news release and no undertaking is given to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements or information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless so required by applicable securities laws or the CSE. The forward-looking statements or information contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.
Neither the CSE nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. No stock exchange, securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained herein.
SOURCE Sitka Gold Corp.
Donald Penner, President & Director, 778-212-1950, [email protected] or Cor Coe, CEO & Director, 604-817-4753, [email protected]
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