Getchell hits high-grade gold mineralisation at Fondaway Canyon

Getchell Gold (CSE: GTCH; US-OTC: GGLDF) has released assays from its inaugural 2020 drill program on the Colorado zone at its flagship Fondaway Canyon gold project in Nevada, 125 km east of Reno.

The six-hole 1,995-metre drill program, says Getchell's president Mike Sieb, was designed to characterise the mineralisation and structural setting of the Colorado zone, which sits below the historic Colorado pit, to support and test the geological model for the project and to extend the known mineralisation.

"There was a voluminous amount of exploration work previously done on the property," he said in an interview. "So, one of the first things we did last year was to compile, digitise, and interpret the data and develop a geological model for the project, which took us a good six months to complete."

Highlights from the drill program included drillhole FCG20-02 drilled to the southwest along a plane connecting the Colorado pit to the Pack Rat zone, 650 metres to the southwest. The drill hole intersected a wide mineralised structural zone between a depth of 150 metres and 300 metres. The hole cut 21.9 metres grading 6.2 grams gold per tonne starting from 106.1 metres, including 12 metres grading 9.6 grams gold from 116 metres.

A step-out hole (FCG20-03) drilled 120 metres to the southeast, returned 21.1 metres grading 4.3 grams gold from 148.7 metres, including 9.4 metres grading 8.7 grams gold from 159.6 metres; and a deeper interval of 49 metres grading 2 grams gold from 188.3 metres.

"We were thrilled with the initial drill results as the mineralisation was exactly where we had projected it to be," Sieb said. "Not only did both holes encounter a broad zone of mineralisation approximately 100 metres thick, but the grades came back higher than we had anticipated, so it was a huge success."

A drill crew operating a rig at the Colorado pit on the Fondaway Canyon gold project. Credit: Getchell Gold.

Both drill holes were collared from the historic Colorado pit and drilled in the central area to test the down-dip extensions of the Colorado zone mineralisation, successfully extending the known gold mineralisation towards the southwest.

Hole FCG20-02, Sieb said, also intersected a new structural zone of high-grade gold mineralisation not accounted for in the geological model. He noted that, of 17 consecutive samples extending 21.9 metres downhole, only one sample assayed less than 1 gram gold per tonne, with the highest sample returning 1.7 metres grading 25.5 grams gold.

A mineral resource estimate for the project in 2017 outlined 2.01 million indicated tonnes grading 6.18 grams gold per tonne for 409,000 oz. contained gold. Inferred resources add 3.2 million tonnes grading 6.4 grams gold for 660,000 oz. of gold.

Guided by the remaining drill results, the company plans to undertake a step-out drill program to extend the known mineralisation and to conduct follow-up drilling on the newly discovered zone.

"We plan to conduct about 4,000 metres of drilling in 2021 and currently have around $2 million in the treasury, which will probably be enough to fund the work," Sieb said. "However, it won't be enough for what we want to do on the property, so we're likely go to the market at some stage to raise more funds and bolster our kitty."

The company also plans to issue a new resource estimate for the project in mid-2021.

At press time in Toronto, Getchell was trading at 46 ? per share within a 52-week trading range of 7 ? and 50 ?. The company has around 58 million common shares outstanding for a $26.8-million market capitalization.