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

Grande Portage Resources Ltd. May 28 filed an NI 43-101-compliant technical report with an updated resource estimate for the company's Herbert Gold project in Southeast Alaska.

Incorporating the results from 12 holes drilled last year, the first drilling at Herbert Gold since 2012, the updated estimate outlines 1.1 million metric tons of indicated resource averaging 7.25 grams per metric ton (267,950 ounces) gold; and 423,200 metric tons of inferred resource averaging 6.04 g/t (82,200 oz) gold.

The 2017 program focused on testing extensions of three major veins – Main, Deep Trench and Goat – and their satellite structures.

Grande Portage said this, and previous drilling has shown that the gold mineralization in these three vein structures is very predictable and consistently returns values greater than 2 g/t gold and often returns much higher grades.

Examples of higher grade intercepts from the 2017 program included 1.9 meters of 10.5 g/t gold at Main Vein; 2.79 meters of 5.71 g/t gold at Deep Trench; and 2.64 meters of 27.93 g/t gold at Goat Vein.

Grande Portage said the Deep Trench veins are open to the east, west and to depth except Main Vein which has been closed off to the west.

The company is particularly excited about the extending of Goat where the easternmost four holes all cut higher than average grades including two meters of 28.92 g/t gold and seven meters of 5.31 g/t gold.

A surface sample collected from a four-foot wide outcrop at the east end of the known extent of the Goat vein returned 231 grams per metric ton (6.75 oz/t) gold and 49.8 g/t silver.

This portion of Goat is yet to be included in the Herbert Gold resource.

Additional subparallel veins are considered likely to occur both north and south of the current area that has been drilled.

"The results of the resource estimate underscore the vast potential of our Herbert project and highlights the deposit's quality and excellence for expansion," said Grande Portage President and CEO Ian Klassan. "Our total drilling to date has reached less than 15 percent of the known property potential. The continuity is excellent, and mineralization is open at depth and along strike."

In total, the updated resource estimate, authored by DRW Geological Consultants Ltd., incorporated the results from 22,090 meters of drilling in 143 holes at this gold project near Juneau.

–SHANE LASLEY