Mr. Darwin Green reports
HIGHGOLD MINING INTERSECTS 578 G/T AU AND 2,203 G/T AG OVER 6.4 M IN FIRST HOLE AT DIFFICULT CREEK PROSPECT, JOHNSON TRACT PROJECT, ALASKA
HighGold Mining Inc. has released exceptionally high-grade drill results from the Difficult Creek prospect (DC), located four kilometres northeast of the company's 750,000-ounce-indicated 10.9-gram-per-tonne-gold-equivalent (AuEq) JT deposit resource. Difficult Creek is one of several regional prospects being explored by Highgold on the district-scale Johnson Tract project in south-central Alaska.
Drill highlights -- drill hole DC21-010:
577.9 grams per tonne gold, 2,023 g/t silver, 2.15 per cent zinc and 0.30 per cent copper over 6.40 m, including:982.7 g/t Au, 3,436 g/t Ag, 2.80 per cent Zn and 0.44 per cent Cu over 3.76 m, including: 2,860 g/t Au, 9,990 g/t Ag, 5.04 per cent Zn and 0.88 per cent Cu over 1.26 m.
"Without a doubt, this is a game-changing drill hole that firmly establishes the DC prospect as a second centre of high-grade mineralization and validates our conviction in the multideposit potential at Johnson Tract," commented president and chief executive officer Darwin Green. "The bonanza-grade intersection in hole DC21-010 represents the highest grade drilled to date on the JT project, which is a significant achievement given the number of outstanding drill intersections generated previously in the main JT deposit area. We look forward to the pending assay results from additional stepout drill holes and the ongoing exploration of this exciting early-stage prospect."
Discussion of DC prospect area and drill results
The DC prospect is located four kilometres northeast of the JT deposit and is characterized by a series of large gossan alteration zones similar in style to the JT deposit that collectively extend over a 1.5-kilometre-by-3.0-kilometre area. Gold mineralization and pervasive clay/anhydrite alteration are preferentially developed within dacitic to rhyolitic tuffaceous rocks that underlie a shallowly dipping sequence of lesser altered andesite that is host to a gold- and silver-rich vein field at higher elevations. The widespread extent of mineralization exposed in erosional windows through the andesite supports potential for a large and partially blind mineralized system linking the various DC prospect zones together.
Hole DC21-010 is the first hole completed by Highgold at the DC prospect and targeted downdip of a showing of mineralized silicified breccia at Middle DC where surface sampling returned 22.1 g/t gold and 178 g/t silver over a 1.5 m chip sample. Limited drilling in 1983 by a previous operator yielded 36.6 metres grading 3.57 g/t Au, 1.8 per cent Zn, 0.2 per cent Cu, 0.4 per cent Pb and 15.5 g/t Ag in hole DC83-002, including 4.6 metres grading 9.3 g/t Au, 57 g/t Ag and 4.5 per cent Zn. Hole DC21-010 intersected the mineralized zone at a shallow depth, confirming continuity of the mineralized zone and demonstrating the presence of bonanza gold and silver grades, including 2,860 g/t Au and 9,990 g/t Ag over 1.26 m within a broader mineralized interval from 46.30 m to 52.70 m grading577.9 g/t Au and 2,023 g/t Ag over a 6.4 m width. Mineralization consists of an anastomosing network of narrow quartz-sulphide veins within a variably silicified zone of quartz-sericite-pyrite alteration. Assay results for the individual samples that make up the 6.4 m intersection in hole DC21-010 are shown in the associated table.
JOHNSON TRACT PROJECT -- INDIVIDUAL ASSAY SAMPLE RESULTS FOR THE 6.4-METRE MINERALIZED INTERVAL IN DRILL HOLE DC21-010 From To WidthAuAgZnCuPb(m) (m) (m) (g/t) (g/t) (%) (%) (%)46.30 47.501.201.6813.41.740.220.1747.50 48.761.26286099905.040.880.25less than less than48.76 49.761.000.12 0.70.010.010.0149.76 51.261.50 60.70 2202.770.360.2451.26 52.701.441.34 9.90.790.020.41NoteTrue width of the 6.4 m mineralized interval is estimated to be 90 per cent of drilled width. High-grade gold and silver analyses were performed by the ALS geochemistry analytical lab in Reno, Nev., using its Au-Au-GRAV21-ppm analytical method after greater than 10 g/t Au overlimits were returned using ALS's Au-Au-AA24 method and using its Ag-Ag-GRAV21-ppm analytical method after greater than 1,500 g/t Ag overlimits were returned using ALS's Ag-Ag-OG62 method.
Follow-up drilling at DC prospect
A total of seven holes have been completed by Highgold at the Middle DC zone, including stepouts downdip and along strike of hole DC21-010. These holes were completed as part of the company's first pass drill test of the multiple target areas defined across the 1.5 by 3.0 km DC prospect area, totalling 17 holes completed this year (assay results pending).
The importance of the DC prospect has been elevated significantly by the initial, very high-grade results returned in hole DC21-010. The mineralized zone at Middle DC is open to expansion at depth and along strike and will be a major area of focus for the company. The company looks forward to receiving the large volume of pending assay results from Middle DC and elsewhere throughout the greater DC prospect.
Current exploration activities
Three diamond drill rigs are currently operating on the project in concert with a regional geological mapping and geochemical sampling program, air and ground-based geophysical surveying, and a phase 1 metallurgical sampling program. Drilling is divided between the JT deposit area and regional targets, including the DC prospect. To Sept. 30, a total of 13,200 metres have been completed in 34 holes (17 in the JT deposit area and 17 on regional targets). Assays results will be released on a continuing basis pending review and meeting company quality assurance/quality control protocols. An updated mineral resource estimate is planned for the JT deposit in early 2022, following the completion and receipt of all assays from the 2021 drill program. The new resource estimate will incorporate new drilling completed in 2020 and 2021.
About the Johnson Tract gold project
Johnson Tract is a polymetallic (gold, copper, zinc, silver and lead) project located near tidewater, 125 miles (200 kilometres) southwest of Anchorage, Alaska, United States. The 21,000-acre property includes the high-grade Johnson Tract deposit and at least nine other mineral prospects over a 12-kilometre strike length. Highgold acquired the project through a lease agreement with Cook Inlet Region Inc. (CIRI), one of 12 land-based Alaska native regional corporations created by the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971. CIRI is owned by more than 9,100 shareholders who are primarily of Alaskan native descent.
Mineralization at Johnson Tract occurs in Jurassic-age intermediate volcaniclastic rocks and is characterized as epithermal-type with submarine volcanogenic attributes. The JT deposit is a thick, steeply dipping silicified body (20 m to 50 m average true thickness) that contains a stockwork of quartz-sulphide veinlets and brecciation, cutting through and surrounded by a widespread zone of anhydrite alteration. The Footwall copper zone is located structurally and stratigraphically below JT deposit, and is characterized by copper-silver-rich mineralization. The Au-Cu-Zn-Ag-Pb mineralization associated with the JT deposit has now been defined over a total strike length of 600 metres and to a depth of 350 metres and remains open along strike to the northeast and southwest and at depth.
The JT deposit hosts an indicated resource of 2.14 million tonnes grading 10.93 g/t AuEq comprising 6.07 g/t Au, 5.8 g/t Ag, 0.57 per cent Cu, 0.80 per cent Pb and 5.85 per cent Zn. The inferred resource of 580,000 tonnes grading 7.16 g/t AuEq comprises 2.05 g/t Au, 8.7 g/t Ag, 0.54 per cent Cu, 0.33 per cent Pb and 6.67 per cent Zn. For additional details see National Instrument 43-101 technical report titled "Initial Mineral Resource Estimate for the Johnson Tract project, Alaska," dated June 15, 2020, authored by James N. Gray, PGeo, of Advantage Geoservices Ltd., and Brodie A. Sutherland, PGeo. Gold equivalent is based on assumed metal prices and 100-per-cent recovery and payabilities for Au, Ag, Cu, Pb and Zn. Assumed metal prices for the resource are $1,350 (U.S.)/ounce for gold, $16 (U.S.)/oz for silver, $2.80 (U.S.)/pound for copper, $1 (U.S.)/lb for lead and $1.20 (U.S.)/lb for zinc, and are based on nominal three-year trailing averages as of April 1, 2020. Historical metallurgical testing on drill core samples has indicated that good gold and base metal recoveries, and marketable concentrates can be expected.
Prior to Highgold, the project was last explored in the mid-1990s by a mid-tier mining company that evaluated direct shipping material from Johnson to the Premier mill near Stewart, B.C.
About Highgold Mining Inc.
Highgold is a mineral exploration company focused on high-grade gold projects located in North America. Highgold's flagship asset is the high-grade Johnson Tract gold (Zn-Cu) project located in accessible south-central Alaska, United States. The company also controls one of the largest junior gold miner land positions in the Timmins, Ont., gold camp that includes the Munro-Croesus gold property, which is renowned for its high-grade mineralization, and the large Golden Mile and Golden Perimeter properties. Highgold's experienced board and senior management team are committed to creating shareholder value through the discovery process, careful allocation of capital and environmentally/socially responsible mineral exploration.
Ian Cunningham-Dunlop, PEng, vice-president, exploration, for Highgold Mining and a qualified person as defined by Canadian National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this release.
Additional notes
The starting azimuth and dip for drill hole DC21-010 are 220 degrees and 45 degrees, respectively. Samples of drill core were cut by a diamond-blade rock saw, with half of the cut core placed in individually sealed polyurethane bags and half placed back in the original core box for permanent storage. Sample lengths typically vary from a minimum 0.5-metre interval to a maximum 2.0-metre interval, with an average 1.0- to 1.5-metre sample length. Drill core samples are shipped by air and transport truck in sealed woven plastic bags to the ALS geochemistry analytical lab in Reno, Nev., for sample preparation and analysis. ALS operates according to the guidelines set out in International Organization for Standardization/International Electrotechnical Commission Guide 25. Gold is determined by fire assay fusion of a 50-gram subsample with atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS). Samples that return values greater than 10 parts per million gold from fire assay and AAS (atomic absorption spectroscopy) are determined by using fire assay and a gravimetric finish. Various metals including silver, gold, copper, lead and zinc are analyzed by inductively coupled plasma (ICP) atomic emission spectroscopy, following multiacid digestion. The elements copper, lead and zinc are determined by ore-grade assay for samples that return values greater than 10,000 ppm by ICP (inductively coupled plasma) analysis. Silver is determined by ore-grade assay for samples that return greater than 100 ppm.
Samples from the high-grade DC21-010 drill intersection have been resubmitted for metallic screen gold analysis (ME-SCR24) at ALS geochemistry analytical lab in North Vancouver, B.C., Canada. Metallic screen utilizes a larger (one kilogram) sample size that can help determine the presence of coarse gold.
The company has a robust quality assurance/quality control program that includes the insertion of blanks, standards and duplicates.
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