Resolution Minerals pegs more ground in Alaska as it awaits Aurora assays
Resolution Minerals has added 19 new mining claims to the East Pogo block within its flagship 64North gold project.
Encouraged by shallow drill targets identified in this year’s field program, gold explorer Resolution Minerals (ASX: RML) has expanded the footprint of its flagship 64North gold project in Alaska.
The company has added 19 new mining claims to the project’s East Pogo block, where exploration work during the year identified targets along-strike from historic high-grade drill intercepts of up to 35 grams per tonne gold.
The claims cover 12sq km and lie immediately to the east of the East Pogo 2020 field work focus area, including the Boundary prospect.
Resolution managing director Duncan Chessell said the East Pogo block, which is sandwiched between Northern Star Resources’ (ASX: NST) world-class Pogo gold mine to the west and the Tibbs project to the east, will be a focus for shallow drilling next season.
“The identification of shallow 50-150m Pogo-style drill targets as a result of our extensive field work in 2020 at the East Pogo block … is very encouraging and has been the driver to snap up 19 new claims,” he said.
Access approvals for an initial 2,000m shallow drilling program at East Pogo are expected to be completed in February with drill testing planned to start in the 2021 Alaskan summer field season (May to September).
The latest additions come as the explorer awaits assays from two recently completed drill holes at the Aurora prospect, also located within the 64North project.
East Pogo drilling plan
An initial 2,000m of shallow (up to 150m depths) reconnaissance drilling is planned along ridgelines cross-cutting three main target areas (northern, central and southern) within the East Pogo block.
Drilling in the northern zone will follow-up historic exploration, which intersected up to 35g/t gold in late fault veins that are interpreted to extend vertically and laterally to the north of an estimated 600m deep and 2km by 8km large geophysical anomaly.
Drilling in the central and southern zones will focus on shallow anomalies that are “blind” to the surface even though they were detected by historic and recent surface sampling.
Resolution said a second, deeper drilling program will be planned based on results from the shallow one.
Aurora drill assays
Meanwhile, holes #8 and #9 have been completed at the central zone of the Aurora prospect, located to the west of East Pogo and on the other side of the Pogo gold mine.
The drilling targeted extensions of the shallow dipping Pogo-style 7m thick quartz vein intersected in an earlier drill hole and were designed as step-outs from the same drilling pad.
According to Resolution, zones of quartz veining and intense alteration were intersected in both holes with four zones of interest identified in hole #8 and two (starting from 112m depth) in hole #9.
The core has been recovered and sent to a lab in the Alaskan city of Fairbanks, where it will be cut, inspected and fast-tracked with assays expected in January.
“We look forward to the results of these high priority holes and to completing our preliminary evaluation of the West Pogo block in the first season of the 64North project,” Mr Chessell said.
Also in today’s announcements, Resolution said trenching work has been completed at the E1 prospect to allow identification of potential drilling targets with assays now expected in January due to laboratory overload.