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

Victoria Gold Corp. Oct. 25 reported that drills tapped grades as high as 5.83 grams per metric ton gold over 31.4 meters at its more than one-million-ounce Raven deposit on the Dublin Gulch property in Yukon, Canada.

"The 2023 Raven exploration season is now completed and, as these latest results demonstrate, has continued to identify high-grade gold mineralization both internally and externally to the current Raven deposit bounds," said Victoria Gold President and CEO John McConnell.

Culminating in 13,220 meters of diamond drilling in 39 holes at Raven, along with 1,282 meters of surface trenching in 16 trenches at both Raven and Lynx, the 2023 exploration season continues to show Dublin Gulch's potential to deliver higher-grade gold mineralization to the Eagle Mine.

Highlights from initial assays reported in September include:

• 38 meters averaging 1.77 g/t gold and 3.81 g/t silver from a depth of 203.5 meters in hole NG23-167C.

• 70.9 meters averaging 0.82 g/t gold and 14.03 g/t silver from 222.5 meters in NG23-170C, including 53.8 meters averaging 1.01 g/t gold and 16.78 g/t silver.

• 78.4 meters averaging 1.4 g/t gold and 3.01 g/t silver from 224.8 meters in NG23-172C, including 27.5 meters averaging 3.45 g/t gold and 1.35 g/t silver, and an even smaller subsection that cut half a meter of 135.3 g/t gold and 8.4 g/t silver.

• 144 meters averaging 0.81 g/t gold and 10.58 g/t silver from 159 meters in NG23-179C, including several smaller subsections of higher-grade gold – 54 meters averaging 1.5 g/t gold and 24.57 g/t silver; 22 meters averaging 3.01 g/t gold and 58.06 g/t silver; 18.5 meters averaging 3.47 g/t gold and 66.63 g/t silver; and 3.5 meters averaging 13.68 g/t gold and 216.08 g/t silver.

At the time, the company added that the results from NG23-172C and NG23-179C, together with a hole drilled in 2022 – NG22-155C (6.9 meters averaging 7.18 g/t gold from 128.1 meters) – reveal a possible emerging high-grade trend.

The drilling over the past two years tested an additional 400-meter strike length along the eastern limits of Raven's 2022 maiden resource area, which further confirmed mineralization over a strike length of 1,700 meters.

Victoria says analytical results from these programs represent further confirmation of the Raven mineralization and resource model, with long intervals of gold mineralization hosted within granodiorite lithologies punctuated by intervals of high-grade massive sulfide veins.

For the second half of the 2023 program, from which its most recent assays derive, was split between exploratory drilling to the east of Raven and drilling internally at the primary Raven resource in areas with previously limited data. This latter part of the program was intended to increase the grade and confidence of the Raven resource.

Highlights from the final 23 holes include:

• 23 meters averaging 2.31 g/t gold and 45.56 g/t silver in NG23-189C.

• 171.5 meters averaging 0.4 g/t gold and 2 g/t silver from 121.5 meters in NG23-196C, including 33.5 meters averaging 1.44 g/t gold and 6.46 g/t silver, with another smaller subsection cutting 11.7 meters averaging 3.48 g/t gold and 13.13 g/t silver.

• 240.2 meters averaging 0.96 g/t gold and 3.37 g/t silver from 23.1 meters in NG23-200C, including 31.4 meters averaging 5.83 g/t gold and 20.74 g/t silver.

While many more could be listed, throughout most of the holes, grades ranging between 0.3 and even 49 g/t gold were tapped, signaling the incredible mineralization held at Raven.

In addition to the gold and silver, Victoria also reported several highly anomalous base metal vein intercepts, including:

• 1.2 meters averaging 3.1 g/t gold, 545 g/t silver, 23.46% lead, and 22.32% zinc, from a depth of 108.5 meters in hole NG23-198C.

• 3.5 meters averaging 13.68 g/t gold, 216.08 g/t silver, 11.04% lead, and 7% zinc from 179.2 meters in NG23-179C.

• 1.9 meters averaging 6.26 g/t gold, 35.08 g/t silver, 5.9% lead, and 7.33% zinc from 160.5 meters in NG23-175C.

Victoria Gold Corp.

Exploration also included 1,282 meters of surface trenching in 16 trenches at both Raven and Lynx.

These high-grade, sulfosalt-bearing base metal veins have been identified and distinctly logged at Raven as far back as its discovery in 2018. However, it was not until late 2022 that their potential as consistent veins distinct from the gold-bearing massive sulfide veins was recognized and analytical overlimit procedures for base metals were established on all core samples.

Toward its calculation, these base metal veins have not been assessed in any economic detail to date, but part of the 2023 post-field season work will include a review of these veins, including an independent model.

Nevertheless, the company says it has maintained the coarse rejects and pulps from all 2018 to 2023 Raven drilling and, therefore, can conduct overlimit assays on intervals of note.

"Work on an updated Raven Resource is now underway and we look forward to seeing two full seasons of drilling added to the maiden resource estimate," said McConnell.