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By Shane Lasley
Mining News 

Drill taps more gold-silver west of Premier

Ascot begins to appreciate scale of resource expansion area North of 60 Mining News – August 13, 2021

 

Last updated 8/12/2021 at 2:57pm

Ascot Resources Premier-Northern Lights deposit Steward British Columbia Canada

Ascot Resources Ltd.

Ascot Resources' early 2021 drilling has encountered high-grade gold and silver up to 600 meters west of the outlined Premier-Northern Lights resource.

Ascot Resources Ltd. Aug. 9 reported that drilling continues to discover new zones of high-grade gold and silver mineralization to the northwest of the resource outlined in the Premier-Northern Lights deposit at its mine project near Stewart, British Columbia.

"We are very pleased with recent drill results as they build upon recent success in this area northwest of the Premier deposit and have identified new areas of high-grade mineralization outside of existing resources," said Ascot Resources President and CEO Derek White.

Premier-Northern Lights, one of five deposits on the Premier property, hosts 1.3 million metric tons of indicated resource averaging 8.46 grams per metric ton (353,000 ounces) gold and 64.2 g/t (2.68 million oz) silver; plus 1.75 million metric tons of inferred resource averaging 6.72 g/t (379,000 oz) gold and 39.8 g/t (2.24 million oz) silver.

Drilling completed last year began to show the potential to expand this deposit to the west.

Highlights from the 2020 drilling between the Premier deposit and Woodbine, which lies about 1,000 meters west of the resource area, include:

Six meters averaging 9.21 g/t gold and 6.9 g/t silver in hole P20-2183.

3.23 meters averaging 20.06 g/t gold and 39.7 g/t silver in P20-2193.

24.15 meters averaging 3.74 g/t gold in P20-2202.

This year, Ascot began its planned 25,000 meters of drilling, testing this westward expansion area, which is easier to access early in the season due to its lower elevation and proximity to the Premier mill and other infrastructure.

The first seven 2021 holes drilled in this area, reported by the company in July, cut a zone of gold-silver mineralization typical for Premier at a depth of around 70 meters, and three holes encountered a second deeper zone of high-grade copper-silver mineralization in a broad zone of sulfides that were identified with geophysics.

Highlights from the shallower gold-silver zone include:

1.25 meters averaging 0.81 g/t gold and 407 g/t silver from a depth of 73.5 meters in hole P21-2302

Two meters averaging 0.7 g/t gold and 373 g/t silver from a depth of 65.2 meters in P21-2303.

1.2 meters averaging 6.57 g/t gold and 14.3 g/t silver from a depth of 42.7 meters in P21-2304.

Highlights from the deeper copper-silver discovery include:

Four meters averaging 0.17 g/t gold, 137.8 g/t silver, 3.62% copper, and 0.65% zinc from a depth of 260 meters in hole P21-2305.

1.45 meters averaging 0.16 g/t gold, 137 g/t silver, 1.98% copper, and 0.22 g/t zinc from a depth of 254.7 meters in P21-2306.

The latest batch of results includes holes that encountered high-grade gold in previously identified areas and new zones at several locations northwest of the Premier-Northern Light deposit.

After completing the seven holes reported in July, the drill rig was moved to the old Westmin core yard about 600 meters west of the Premier-Northern Lights resource to complete geotechnical and exploration drilling south of the power station.

After completing the geotechnical section, hole P21-2311 was extended to test for the presence of mineralization at depth in this location. Drilled from pad GT-01, this hole cut one meter averaging 13.15 g/t gold and 42.6 g/t silver from a depth of 60.8 meters.

Hole P21-2312, also drilled from pad GT-01, cut high-grade mineralization at a depth that does not seem to be related to a known zone of mineralization. From a depth of 135 meters, hole 2312 cut four meters averaging 13.18 g/t gold and 84.5 g/t silver.

"We are beginning to appreciate the scale of these new, high-grade discoveries in the area west of the mill and the Premier resource, and are eagerly awaiting the next round of assay results in this zone," said White.

In addition to the gold and silver encountered in these primarily geotechnical holes, the company cut strong precious and base metals mineralization just west of the Premier-Northern Lights deposit.

Drilled 50 meters from the closest intercept included in the resource, hole P21-2320 cut seven meters averaging 21.13 g/t gold, 110.6 g/t silver, 17.14% zinc, and 2.76% lead.

resource expansion drilling highlights pending assays high-grade gold map

Derek White

"We are particularly encouraged by hole P21-2320 which intercepted 21 g/t gold over seven meters, because the gold grades were consistent throughout the interval," said White.

Assays are pending from an additional ten holes drilled to test the 430-meter-wide gap between the recently discovered gold-silver mineralization west of Premier-Northern Lights and current resources.

"We expect a higher cadence of drill results as surface drilling progresses at Woodbine and the Day Zone, and as we add a second drill rig in the coming weeks."

Day Zone is an area of higher grade gold mineralization about 300 meters west from the planned underground development at Big Missouri, a deposit about 5,000 meters north of the Premier Mill.

Author Bio

Shane Lasley, Publisher

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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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