Sabina Gold & Silver Corp. April 9 reported that the spring drill program has cut long sections of high-grade gold below the current resource at its Back River gold project in Nunavut, Canada.

The roughly 6,000 meters of drilling planned for this spring is testing targets at the Goose property – Llama Extension, Umwelt Vault, and the relatively untested DIF (deep iron formation) horizon – that could have a high impact on the mine being developed at Back River.

In 2015, the company submitted applications to develop and operate a 3,000-metric-tons-per-day mine at Back River, on Goose, one of the properties that comprise the larger Back River project.

The proposed mine on the Goose property is forecast to produce roughly 2.3 million ounces of gold over an 11.8-year mine life.

The Goose property hosts 5.33 million ounces of gold in the measured and indicated resource categories along a 5,000-meter-long trend, most of which is found in the Llama and Umwelt zones.

Deeper high-grade extensions of both gold zones have been identified.

The first reported hole of the spring 2018 program, 18GSE530, cut 23.25 meters averaging 15.67 grams per metric ton gold in the Llama Extension target, which is located about 450 meters down plunge from the current Llama resource. This extension was first drilled last year in a hole that cut 38.55 meters averaging 9.48 g/t Au gold.

"During the 2017 exploration drilling campaign we had great success in demonstrating the tremendous growth potential that exists along the Llama gold structure" said Sabina Gold & Silver President and CEO Bruce McLeod. "This year, we will target the higher grade potential within the trend to better understand the geologic controls and overall size and tenor of the zone."

The gold bearing stratigraphy and structure at Llama has been shown to continue more than 500 meters below, or down plunge, from the current resource limits or 1,275 meters down plunge from the current Llama open pit limits.

"The Llama underground resource area is not currently in the development plan, but as we have seen with the Umwelt Vault Zone, zones of high-grade gold over significant widths at depth continue to demonstrate the potential for extended mine life and enhanced project economics," said McLeod.

–SHANE LASLEY