Prospect of Further Significant Intrusion-Related Gold Deposits
Sitka Gold (TSXV:SIG; FSE:1RF; OTCQB:SITKF) appears to be on the trail of another significant discovery 5 kilometers south of the gold deposit Blackjack, which the company has already proven on its RC Gold project in Yukon. The very first two diamond core drill holes ever sunk in the recently acquired Rhosgobel target area show multiple occurrences of visible gold in the drill cores at various points.
In drill hole DDRCRG-24-002, 11 occurrences of visible Gold were observed. The recent drill holes indicate a much larger mineralized system with gold intersections at much greater depths than in previous work. The visual results from Rhosgobel suggest that gold mineralization extends at least 250 meters beyond the depth of historical reverse-circulation drilling, which ended in mineralization at a depth of 70 meters.
The historical RC drilling was conducted by Kennecott in 1995. Laboratory analyses for the new diamond drilling are still pending. The company currently has two drill rigs operating on its RC Gold property and is awaiting analytical results for other completed drill holes, including hole DDRCCC-24-068, which shows over 40 occurrences of visible gold from the surface (4 meters) to a depth of 680 meters.
Cor Coe, CEO of Sitka Gold, commented: “The visual results from the first two diamond drill holes ever completed at the intrusion-related gold target Rhosgobel have exceeded our expectations, with multiple occurrences of visible gold observed in DDRCRG-24-001 and 002. The visual results from our first drilling pass at Rhosgobel are very encouraging and underscore the considerable potential of the many priority targets we have yet to drill in the Clear Creek Intrusive Complex. Rhosgobel demonstrates the potential for additional significant intrusion-related gold deposits within the Clear Creek Intrusive Complex, similar to our growing Blackjack deposit. Diamond drilling with oriented core at Rhosgobel has provided Sitka’s technical team with valuable information confirming the similar structural and geological controls of gold mineralization occurring in the Blackjack and Eiger deposits located approximately 5 kilometers to the north.”
The Rhosgobel Intrusion is the largest and southernmost exposed intrusion that is part of the Clear Creek Intrusive Complex (CCIC). The intrusions within the CCIC occupy an area of about 8 by 15 kilometers and likely originate from a common magmatic source at depth. All intrusions are associated with known gold mineralization and form a large mineralized system with the potential to host multiple gold deposits. The Rhosgobel Intrusion, located 5 km south of the Blackjack deposit along the trend of the north-striking Blackjack Fault, exhibits similar structural features to Blackjack itself.
Conclusion: The recent discovery at Rhosgobel demonstrates the long cycles in which the exploration industry operates. It has taken 29 years to confirm that Rhosgobel’s potential is much greater than could have been imagined during Kennecott’s exploration in 1995. At that time, the gold price was less than $400. Accordingly, the project was shelved impatiently after a quick 26 RC drillings to a depth of 70 meters. It would have likely required gold grades of several grams to continue at that time. Today, the Rhosgobel discovery stands in a completely changed context. The gold price has since more than sextupled. But above all, Sitka Gold’s work has completely changed the knowledge about the drivers of structure-bound mineralization in the Clear Creek Intrusive Complex. Geologists interpret the results to date as indicating that Blackjack and the Rhosgobel target, five kilometers away, are structurally connected and fed by the same gold-mineralized source at depth. In this respect, the Rhosgobel discovery is pretty much the opposite of a “lucky punch” (although luck is always involved), but rather further evidence that Sitka’s underlying exploration thesis is actually correct. This is likely where the real satisfaction of the preliminary results at Rhosgobel lies after 29 years. Sitka Gold still has much planned for exploration in the Clear Creek Intrusive Complex.
