The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
KBDH-004 cuts mineralization more than 200m below resource North of 60 Mining News – July 17, 2020
Hole KBDH-004 cut 516.6 meters averaging 0.28 g/t gold from surface at the Korbel target on Nova Minerals' Estelle project.
Nova Minerals Ltd. July 15 reported long intercepts of gold mineralization in two more holes drilled into Korbel resource block B at its 54,400-acre (220 square kilometers) Estelle project in Alaska.
"We are pleased to report more thick drill intercepts which are an exciting and significant development in our phase 1 resource upgrade with all holes hitting extensive mineralization," said Nova Minerals CEO Christopher Gerteisen.
Situated roughly 100 miles (160 kilometers) northwest of Anchorage, Alaska's largest city, Estelle hosts 181.3 million metric tons of Australian Joint Ore Reserves Committee- (JORC) compliant inferred resource averaging 0.43 grams per metric ton (2.5 million ounces) gold.
This resource is contained within resource blocks A and B at Korbel, one of several near surface gold occurrences identified across the roughly 18-mile- (29 kilometers) long Estelle property. Together, these adjacent blocks cover more than 1,000 meters of strike and are roughly 500 meters wide, on average.
This year's 20,000-meter drill program Estelle is focused primarily on expanding and upgrading the inferred resource at Korbel in order to expedite feasibility studies for establishing a mine at this 2.5-million-oz gold deposit.
Early metallurgical work on Korbel mineralization has shown gold leach recoveries averaging over 76%. These results, coupled with the growing size of the near-surface resource, bode well for establishing a bulk mining operation at Korbel.
In June, Nova reported long sections of gold mineralization in the first two 2020 holes drilled into Korbel block B:
• KBDH-001 cut 399.6 meters averaging 0.34 g/t gold from a depth of 1.9 meters, including 36.6 meters of 0.78 g/t gold from 11.6 meters and 48.8 meters of 0.55 g/t gold from 96.9 meters.
• KBDH-002 cut 539.7 meters of 0.27 g/t gold from 2.26 meters, including 15.5 meters of 1.05 g/t gold from 14.6 meters and two meters of 4.34 g/t gold from 230.4 meters.
These holes cut gold mineralization 100 to 200 meters below the resource.
The latest two holes also cut wide sections of gold mineralization from near the surface to depths of up to 518 meters:
• KBDH-003 cut 241.3 meters averaging 0.39 g/t gold from 4.69 meters, including 118.9 meter of 0.42 g/t gold from 17.7 meters and 21.3 meters of 0.91 g/t from 224.9 meters.
• KBDH-004 cut 516.6 meters averaging 0.28 g/t gold from 1.2 meters, including 130.5 meters of 0.61 g/t gold from 6.4 meters and 9.1 meters of 2.06 g/t gold from 109.4 meters.
As of July 15, the two drills turning at Estelle have completed sixteen holes at resource block B, which Nova is considering as a starter pit for future mining at Estelle. The drilling so far this year has demonstrated a continuation of mineralization to depths of more than 200 meters below the 2.5-million-oz inferred resource.
"The broad mineralization announced today is particularly encouraging, demonstrating the potential to rapidly add significant rock volume to the Korbel gold endowment," Gerteisen said. "Similar potential remains at block A which the rigs will be moving over to for testing in the coming weeks."
Over his more than 16 years of covering mining and mineral exploration, Shane has become renowned for his ability to report on the sector in a way that is technically sound enough to inform industry insiders while being easy to understand by a wider audience.
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