Northern Cobalt gears up to drill advanced Goodpaster gold project
In the first year of exploration at Goodpaster, Northern Cobalt and Millrock Resources plan to carry out diamond core drilling, lidar, field mapping, geochemical sampling and geophysical surveys.
Northern Cobalt (ASX: N27) is a step closer to kicking-off drilling at its recently acquired joint venture Goodpaster gold project in Alaska with construction activities almost completed to pave the way for the $5 million 2020 exploration program.
The company and its joint venture partner Millrock Resources (TSXV: MRO) now have a water bore drill rig on site to drill a bore for use during the upcoming campaign.
Meanwhile, a geophysics crew has begun an extreme low frequency electromagnetic survey to verify data from a previous CSAMT survey. If the results are positive, then Northern Cobalt will extend the infill drilling program to the Aurora Creek prospect.
The joint venture has also secured the Pogo mine road use permit which will allow semi-trucks and trailers to traverse the terrain.
Millrock has executed a shared use agreement with Northern Star Resources (ASX: NST), which owns the adjacent Pogo gold mine.
The agreement allows for safety protocols to be established for joint use of the Pogo gold mine road.
Additionally, a construction camp has now been established along with a lay-down area a short distance from Aurora.
Northern Cobalt noted that previous drill core found on site has been recovered for logging and sampling, with the company stating previous operators had not “adequately sampled” the material.
“The unique logistical advantage we have with the all year access Pogo gold mine road through our project is a massive advantage over the usual helicopter hungry Alaskan projects,” Northern Cobalt managing director Duncan Chessell said.
“Our team on the ground remains undaunted by the cold conditions and road construction is continuing to secondary drill targets,” he added.
Goodpaster project
Last month, Northern Cobalt revealed it had entered into a US$20 million binding agreement with Millrock to earn up to 80% of the Goodpaster project, which is along strike of Northern Star’s own Goodpaster discovery, which has been described as “outstanding”.
Northern Star’s nearby Pogo operation hosts more than 6 million ounces in gold resources and produces about 300,000oz gold per annum at an average grade of 13.6g/t.
In the first year of exploration, Northern Cobalt and Millrock plan to carry out diamond core drilling, lidar, field mapping, geochemical sampling and geophysical surveys.
The work will firm up known prospects in addition to regional exploration to uncover more targets.
Northern Cobalt anticipates the project has the potential to host a camp scale system.
To reflect its new mineral focus, Northern Cobalt has proposed a name change to Resolution Minerals Ltd.
Shares in Northern Cobalt were steady at $0.056 in early morning trade.