For Sitka Gold (TSX-V:SIG; FSE:1RF), this year’s drilling campaign on the Saddle Zone, which is adjacent to the Blackjack discovery on the RC Gold project in the Yukon, has started very promisingly. The evaluation of the first three of a total of eleven boreholes to date on the Saddle target, which was published today, includes several sections with near-surface gold mineralization with several grams of gold per ton!
Hole 87 returned a near-surface interval of 47.6 meters grading 2.09 g/t Au, including 8.0 m grading 5.07 g/t Au. The results are so significant because they are still within the proposed pit limit of the Blackjack resource estimate, but approximately 300 meters east of the currently calculated resource. This underscores the potential of the Saddle Zone to significantly increase the Blackjack resource, according to Sitka. This year, 18,662 m of the planned 30,000 m of drilling have already been completed, with assay results pending for 31 holes (12,951 m) at the Blackjack, Saddle, Eiger and Rhosgobel targets. Drilling with four drill rigs continues at Blackjack, Saddle, Eiger and Rhosgobel.
Cor Coe, Director and CEO of Sitka, commented: “The high-grade intervals encountered in the first follow-up holes of the season in the Saddle Zone are particularly impressive. They are located in near-surface, multi-gram gold-bearing intervals approximately 300 meters east of the current Blackjack resource and within the conceptual pit shell of that deposit. Results of up to 47.6 meters grading 2.09 grams of gold per tonne, including 14.0 meters grading 3.78 grams of gold per tonne, demonstrate the potential of this area to add significant ounces to our existing gold resources and further support the possibility that the Saddle Zone could connect the gold mineralization between the Blackjack and Eiger gold deposits.”
Drilling on the Saddle Zone
In the Saddle Zone, 11 holes totaling 2,918 m have been completed in 2025 to date, and results are available for holes DDRCCC-25-081, DDRCCC-25-084 and DDRCCC-25-087. All holes were drilled within the proposed pit limit of the MRE Blackjack, but outside the current resource estimate (Figure 1). All holes intersected a megacrystalline quartz monzonite sill that cuts hornfelsed sedimentary rock. The sill, which trends approximately WNW and dips gently to the north, is estimated to be approximately 10 to 15 m true thickness and has been drilled along strike for approximately 350 m. Mineralization was intersected in the sill and extends into the adjacent sedimentary rocks.
All three holes DDRCCC-25-081, 084 and 087 encountered multi-gram gold mineralization in both the quartz monzonite sill and the adjacent sedimentary rocks from surface to depth. Hole 081 returned 42.0 m grading 0.96 g/t Au from 102.0 m; hole 084 returned 24.0 m grading 1.36 g/t from 85.0 m; and hole 087 returned 47.6 m grading 2.09 g/t from 33.5 m, including 14.0 m grading 3.78 g/t Au from 67.0 m and 8.0 m grading 5.07 g/t Au from 73.0 m (see Figure 2). These holes are located within the proposed open pit plan for the current Blackjack MRE (see Figure 1), but approximately 300 m east of the currently modeled resource outline.
Drilling in Sitka Gold’s Blackjack Deposit
To date, 14 holes totaling 7,405 meters have been completed on the Blackjack deposit, and results are available for hole DDRCCC-25-080. This hole was drilled to explore the up-dip extension of DDRCCC-23-047 (219.0 m grading 1.36 g/t Au – see the Company’s September 26, 2023 news release). The hole intersected megacrystalline quartz monzonite dikes in altered metasediments cut by foliate quartz veins with local multi-gram sections of gold mineralization (see Table 2).
Drilling in the Eiger Deposit
To date, 10 holes totaling 4,417 meters have been completed on the Eiger deposit. Assay results are now available for holes DDRCCC-25-078, DDRCCC-25-079 and DDRCCC-25-082 (see Table 2). Holes 078, 079 and 082 were collared at the same location on the western edge of the Eiger stockwork with the goal of expanding the current Eiger mineral resource estimate (see Figure 1).
All holes intersected bedded quartz veins within the metasedimentary rocks before encountering the diorite intrusion. Gold mineralization was found in both the metasedimentary rocks and the intrusion. The broad interval of 369.0 m from 76.0 m in hole 79 contained 0.46 g/t Au, well above the 0.20 g/t Au cutoff grade of the current MRE for Eiger. Higher grade intervals included 46.0 m grading 0.99 g/t from 173.8 m and 19.0 m grading 1.03 g/t Au from 331.0 m.
Drilling in the Rhosgobel Target Area
To date in 2025, 10 holes over 2,833 m have been completed at the Rhosgobel target area. Assay results are pending for all holes completed to date this year at Rhosgobel.
Conclusion: The recent discovery of high-grade, near-surface gold just 300 meters from the existing Blackjack resource and still within the planned open pit design provides valuable input for the future recalculation of a larger (and perhaps higher-grade) resource at Blackjack. Sitka geologists have identified a 10 to 15 meter thick highly mineralized horizon at Saddle, the course of which they are continuing to track. The horizon and the underlying rock has already been drilled over a strike length of 350 meters, with all of these holes also still lying within the planned open pit for Blackjack. This makes the economic significance of the recent Saddle discovery obvious. In addition, the question arises as to whether Saddle might even be the connecting piece to the Eiger Zone. Drilling is also underway at Eiger. Sitka is good for many surprises in the current season. Ten holes of the brand new Rhosgobel target, five kilometers south of Saddle, are also still pending.
