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

Ascot Resources Ltd. Sept. 19 said drilling to the west of the 602 and 609 zones at its Premier project near Stewart British Columbia has extended gold-silver mineralization 150 meters from the resource area toward a portal at the past producing mine.

The more than 100-square-kilometer (38.6 square miles) Premier-Dilworth property is home to the Premier Mine, a past-producer of 2.1 million ounces of gold and 44.9 million oz silver. Infrastructure from the operations used up until 2001 – including mill, assay lab building, crusher, tailing storage area and underground development – remain on the property.

A new management team appointed to Ascot last October has focused on expanding the higher grade resources at Premier, a strategy aimed at maximizing the profitability of the processing facilities already in place on the property.

During the process of modeling the mineralized zones at Premier for high-grade resource, it was apparent to Ascot management that mineralization at the western edge of the 602 and 609 zones was not closed off by drilling. As a result, multiple holes were designed to test for a continuation of mineralization in this area close to the already established portal 6 leading into the underground mine.

A total of 13 drill holes were completed to test the extent of mineralization in this direction. All but one, P18-1814, hit breccia zones with gold mineralization.

Highlights from two holes drilled in this 150-meter extension are 20 meters of 8.04 g/t gold and 21.4 g/t silver in hole P18-1743, drilled in 609 Zone; and six meters of 11.49 g/t gold and 9.3 g/t silver in P18-1812, drilled in 602 Zone.

The extension of the deeper 602 Zone appears to be less pronounced than 609, however, the intercept in P18-1812 demonstrates the zone is still open to the west. This area will be a priority focus for resource expansion.

"The extension of mineralization in the 602 and 609 zones towards the west near the level 6 underground portal is particularly significant as planned mining will commence in that area during the restart of operations," said Ascot Resources President and CEO Derek White.

In addition to results from the Premier-Northern Lights area, Ascot reported high-grade gold intercepts from Big Missouri, a past producing open-pit mine about 5,000 meters north of the Premier-Northern Lights.

In June, Ascot reported results from 25 holes drilled this year in Big Missouri, one of several zones in the Big Missouri area. Highlights from this drilling include 7.3 meters averaging 15.27 grams per metric ton gold and 9.73 g/t silver in hole P18-1652; and seven meters of 10.28 g/t gold and 9.5 g/t silver in P18-1617.

All three holes drilled from a pad north of this previously reported drilling cut high-grade gold mineralization. Highlights from this latest batch of holes drilled into the Big Missouri zone include 6.8 meters of 13.8 g/t gold and 9.4 g/t silver in hole P18-1753; and 7.2 meters of 20.67 g/t gold and 24.92 g/t silver in hole P18-1755.

Ascot said the high-grade gold in the three holes may constitute another trend to the north of the established trend that is centered on the S1 open-pit at Missouri. The company plans to investigate this with further drilling.

"The continued flow of high-grade intercepts from Big Missouri bodes well for the wire-framing of high-grade zones for our resource update later this year. Along with the recently reported geophysical survey success, Ascot's future outlook is bright," said White.

In August, the company reported results from Unicorn and Province, zones immediately northeast and south of Missouri zone, respectively.

Highlights from this drilling include 15.8 meters of 14.22 g/t gold and 11.5 g/t silver in hole P18-1678 at Unicorn; four meters of 6.45 g/t gold and 12 g/t silver in hole P18-1708 at Unicorn; two meters of 25.4 g/t gold and eight g/t silver in hole P18-1691 at Province; and two meters of 14.6 g/t gold and 7.7 g/t silver in hole P18-1696 at Province.

Four holes were drilled in the Province area – three cut gold mineralization close to surface in the Province zone; four cut gold mineralization in the deeper Big Missouri zone; and one was drilled deep enough to hit a third deeper zone. This third level of mineralization has not been tested significantly and its exact extents are unknown.

P18-1760, the hole that cut all three zones cut 7.48 meters of 1.13 g/t gold and 12 g/t silver in the Province zone, 47.07 meters of 1.3 g/t gold and 4.4 g/t silver in the Big Missouri zone; and one meter of 2.57 g/t gold and 4 g/t silver in the unnamed deeper zone.

Ascot Resources Ltd.

Ascot Resources CEO Derek White inspects core from this year's drilling at the Premier gold project near Stewart, B.C.

Ascot said it will be much easier to test the newly discovered deep level from underground locations, once operations at Big Missouri begin.

Seven additional holes were also drilled at Unicorn. The company said mineralization at Unicorn occurs relatively close to surface and is hosted in stockwork with less pronounced breccia development. Hole P18-1757 intercepted mineralization at two different elevations, a feature that is common for the Big Missouri area and appears to hold true at Unicorn.

P18-1757 cut 9.4 meters of 1.52 g/t gold and 9.4 g/t silver from a depth of 56.45 meters; and three meters of 1.6 g/t gold and 13.7 g/t silver form 117 meters.

The current drill program is being conducted to expand the existing resource base to support engineering studies for resuming operations at Premier.

–SHANE LASLEY