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

Freegold Ventures Ltd. Feb. 7 reported that high-grade gold assays from its 2023 drill program at Golden Summit reaffirm the expansion potential west of the 20-million-ounce Dolphin-Cleary gold deposit on this road-accessible project about 25 miles north of Fairbanks, Alaska.

According to an early 2023 calculation, the Dolphin-Cleary deposit hosts 407.54 million metric tons of open-pit mineable indicated resource averaging 0.92 grams per metric ton (12 million oz) gold, plus 282.3 million metric tons of open-pit inferred resource averaging 0.85 g/t (7.7 million oz) gold.

Last year, Freegold drilled 44 resource expansion, upgrade, and exploration holes at Golden Summit. This included 37 holes in and around the Dolphin-Cleary deposit and seven reconnaissance holes at the Saddle discovery zone about 2.5 miles east of the resource.

The 2023 drilling included holes to test a large gold-in-soil geochemical anomaly that extends 1,500 meters west of the resource.

Highlights from previously reported holes drilled west of the Dolphin-Cleary deposit include:

• 44.7 meters averaging 1.13 g/t gold in hole GS2309.

• 113.3 meters averaging 5.42 g/t gold in hole GS2314.

• 444.9 meters averaging 0.75 g/t gold in hole GS2329.

• 276.5 meters averaging 1.76 g/t gold in hole GS2333.

The latest batch of Golden Summit assays include results from three additional holes – GS2332, GS2334, and GS2335 drilled in the western resource expansion area.

GS2332, which was drilled about 250 meters northeast of GS2333, cut five gold mineralized intersections. Highlights from hole GS2332 include:

• 3.1 meters averaging 41.4 g/t gold from a depth of 104.5 meters.

• 3.1 meters averaging 25.3 g/t gold from a depth of 355.7 meters.

• 30.5 meters averaging 1.02 g/t gold from a depth of 383.1 meters.

• 26.2 meters averaging 1.23 g/t gold from a depth of 447.6 meters.

• 71 meters averaging 1 g/t gold from a depth of 582.8 meters.

GS2334, which was drilled about 300 meters northwest of GS2333, cut 443.7 meters averaging 0.71 g/t gold from a depth of 183.6 meters, including a 195.1-meter subsection averaging 1.06 g/t gold.

Angled toward the south, this hole was drilled in the opposite direction from most of the holes drilled; Freegold says GS2334 appears to have drilled over the targeted zone.

GS2335, which was drilled about 100 meters northeast of GS2332, cut 414.5 meters averaging 0.8 g/t gold from a depth of 96.6 meters, including a 133.5-meter subsection averaging 1.43 g/t gold.

The company says this hole seems to indicate the gold mineralization could be trending toward the surface to the west.

Overall, the 2023 expansion drilling west of the Dolphin-Cleary deposit indicates the potential for shallower mineralization and increased resource grade in this direction.

In addition to the western resource expansion holes, the latest batch of assays included results from three holes testing the northern boundary of the resource. None of these northern holes cut significant mineralization.

Assays remain pending for two holes drilled in the western resource expansion area and all seven exploration holes drilled at the Saddle discovery zone.

Last year, Freegold reported that visible gold was observed in SZ2307, the seventh reconnaissance hole drilled at Saddle.

Author Bio

Shane Lasley, Publisher

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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