North of 60 Mining News - The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North

TerraX Minerals Inc. March 9 said its first phase of 2018 drilling at the Yellowknife City Gold project is showing the potential for a bulk tonnage deposit on the Northbelt property with multi-gram-per-metric-ton gold grades.

The first five holes of its 2018 winter drill program tested the Sam Otto zone both along strike and to depth.

Two of these holes tested the Sam Otto South extension, confirming a 2,200-meter mineralized zone that remains open. These holes were drilled as a follow up to a 2017 surface sampling program that indicates the Sam Otto zone may extend for 3,500 meters south of the main zone which was drilled over 750 meters of strike length in 2016.

Hole TSO18-035, drilled about 1,500 meters south of the Sam Otto main zone, cut a 150-meter-thick zone of deformation and alteration that included 27.16 meters averaging 2.16 grams per metric ton gold.

The second hole, TSO18-037, drilled 377 meters north of TSO18-035, cut a 231.5-meter-thick zone that included 11.52 meters averaging 1.92 g/t gold.

"The extremely long step out for hole TSO18-035 confirmed our exploration targeting. The higher grade multi-gram intersections reported here exceed the grades typically seen in the Sam Otto main zone and confirm continuity within this large mineralizing system," said TerraX CEO Joseph Campbell. "With several kilometers of strike length to explore, we are excited about the potential for a large tonnage deposit."

Another three holes tested the depth extension of the Sam Otto Main zone to 350 meters.

TerraX said all holes hit typical Sam Otto main zone deformation and alteration, extending the Sam Otto main zone to depth, but with an increase in mineralized quartz veins relative to the mineralized zones in the previous shallower holes.

Hole TSO18-032 cut 62.24 meters averaging 0.85 g/t gold, including 13.95 meters of 2.04 g/t gold. TSO18-033 cut two well mineralized zones – 21.5 meters of 0.52 g/t gold and 40 meters of 0.5 g/t gold. TSO18-034 cut 31.8 meters averaging 0.51 g/t gold.

Drilling on the Northbelt property is currently being carried out by two drills on multiple targets. The initial 2018 drill campaign is planned to be approximately 6,300 meters. The five holes reported so far represent 2,003 meters of drilling, or nearly one-third of the winter program at YCGP.

–SHANE LASLEY