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

K2 Gold Corp. June 4 said it has begun an initial phase of its 2018 exploration program at Wels, a western Yukon gold property about 30 miles (50 kilometers) east of the Alaska-Yukon border.

A re-interpretation of the existing rock, soil, and drill sample geochemistry commissioned by Wels earlier this year shows that antimony and arsenic have a clear affinity with the known gold in all rock-types on the property.

A 3,000- by 1,500-meters antimony signature has been identified at Wels that blankets the Saddle gold zone and Chai prospect.

Highlights from the 2017 drilling at Saddle include 28.5 meters of 2.37 grams per metric ton gold in hole DDH17-06; and 12.5 meters of 5.08 g/t gold in DDH17-07.

The 2018 phase-1 exploration program is initially targeting a 300-hectare area at the Gunpowder-Chai prospects located roughly 1,500 meters south of the 2017 drilling. This area lies within the large antinomy anomalous footprint that extends from north of Saddle to south of Chai. To date, less than 10 percent of this mineralized footprint has been explored.

The Gunpowder and Chai zones were prospected and sampled at the end of the 2017 field season and the results delivered after snow had fallen. Samples of gabbros (coarse-grained intrusive igneous rocks) collected at Gunpowder returned assays of 28.2 g/t, 13.6 g/t, and 2 g/t gold, and samples of quartzites at Chai returned 1.9 g/t and 1.67 g/t gold.

The phase-1 program at Gunpowder, Chai, Saddle and surrounding geochemical anomalies includes ground geophysics, drone surveys and prospecting.

The geophysical program will involve ground magnetic and very low frequency electromagnetic geophysical surveys at Saddle, Chai and Gunpowder.

The drone surveying is expected to help identify regional structures and prospective geology.

K2 geologists will continue to prospect known targets, previously untested geochemical anomalies, and any targets turned up by the new geophysics and drone surveys.

This phase-1 work is expected to help delineate targets for trenching and drilling in subsequent programs.

K2 Gold said discovery of gold in multiple rock types at Wels suggests an affinity to orogenic style gold deposits, which are common within the Tintina Gold Belt, a 125- by 750-mile are that extends from northern British Columbia, through the southwest corner of Yukon, and across Alaska.

In addition to Wels, K2 Gold owns three gold projects in the Yukon section of the Tintina Gold Belt – Flume, Storck and Ladue – and one just across the border in Alaska – McArthur Creek.

–SHANE LASLEY