Rockhaven Resources Ltd. July 21 reported the start of a 10,000-meter drill program at its Klaza gold-silver project in the Yukon.

Found in the Dawson Range Gold Belt of southern Yukon, the Klaza property covers an area of 25,000 hectares (61,776 acres) and is road-accessible from the nearby Klondike Highway.

A 2020 preliminary economic assessment outlined plans for a mine at Klaza that would produce roughly 750,000 ounces of gold and 13.8 million oz of silver over 12 years of mining.

This scoping level study is based on 4.46 million metric tons of indicated resource averaging 4.8 grams per metric ton (686,000 oz) gold and 98 g/t (14.1 million oz) silver; plus 5.71 million metric tons of inferred resource averaging 2.8 g/t (507,000 oz) gold and 76 g/t (13.9 million oz) silver.

Since this resource was calculated in 2018, Rockhaven has completed significant drilling at Klaza, including a 14,256-meter drill program completed last year that included 11 holes to test resource expansion targets, 30 to evaluate targets outside of the immediate resource area, and 31 focused on upgrading inferred resource.

Rockhaven's fully funded 2022 program will utilize two diamond drills to complete approximately 10,000 meters of drilling with the goal of advancing Klaza toward prefeasibility by completing targeted objectives, including:

• Resource definition infill drilling (9,000 meters in 44 holes) to convert more of the inferred mineral resource into indicated resource.

• Discovery-focused exploration drilling (1,000 meters in five holes) at high-grade gold-silver epithermal targets, which include Rusk and Western BRX Extension targets.

• Additional non-drilling target evaluations at the Rusk East, Dade, Bear, and Sked prospects.

• Continued studies related to metallurgy, engineering, and baseline permitting.

"Following a successful 2021 infill drill program, 2022 work is designed to establish indicated resources in the areas prioritized by the 2020 PEA and will lead into an updated mineral resource estimate and pre-feasibility study in mid-2023," said Rockhaven Resources CEO Matt Turner.

Exploration drilling is planned at the Rusk and Western BRX Extension targets as new mineralization was discovered by a fence of drill holes in 2020, which spanned a new vein complex located approximately 3,000 meters south of the Klaza deposit.

After the discovery holes were followed up by ten drill holes last year, work this year will further assess the on-strike potential of the main structures.

"Additionally, exploration drilling, trenching and prospecting will advance targets that lie outside of the resource areas to further demonstrate the camp-scale character of the Klaza project," said Turner.