Gold Terra Resource starts second deep drill hole

Gold Terra Resource (TSX.V: YGT, FSE: TX0, WKN: A2P0BS) has commenced drilling a second deep hole at the Con Mine Option property. The new hole will be deeper than the previous GTCM23-055 hole completed last year . It aims to intersect the high-grade Campbell Shear gold deposit once again below the existing mine infrastructure.

A unique feature of Gold Terra Resources’ current drilling plan is that while drilling will be at great depths, the cost of this drilling is low because the initial deep hole will serve as a master hole for several more wedge holes. They will branch out from this master hole and can therefore test other interesting locations without incurring extremely high drilling costs.

The drill targets in the Campbell Shear zone are located at depths of 1,900 to 2,600 metres. However, as an intact mine infrastructure with a functioning shaft extends down to 1,900 metres, the project is more comparable in terms of development costs with other properties that explore higher-lying targets at depths of 400 to 500 metres.

Investors should always bear this aspect in mind, the company reminds, because despite depths of over 2,000 metres, what Gold Terra Resource is planning at the Con Mine is nowhere near as costly as it may seem at first glance. On the contrary: many near-surface projects that are brought into production far outside existing infrastructure will be considerably more expensive due to the construction of roads and power lines.

The successful progress of hole GTCM23-055 suggests that the high-grade Campbell Shear zone will also be repeatedly intersected and confirmed by subsequent holes. Only time will tell whether the mineralisation intersected isenough to justify a resumption of mining operationswith enough ounces found.

Low development costs and great potential for Gold Terra Resource

What is already clear, however, is that if Gold Terra Resource is successful with its drilling, the subsequent mine development will firstly be inexpensive compared to other projects and secondly also quite fast, because thanks to the historic Con Mine, the company has access to numerous facilities that other mine developers first have to build laboriously and, above all, expensively.

With this huge advantage behind it, Gold Terra Resource is now moving on to explore the zone around 200 to 600 metres below the existing mine infrastructure in more detail. Last year, drill hole GTCM23-055 proved that the gold structure continues below the historic mine. Subsequent drilling must now prove that there is still enough gold in the ground to make a resumption of mining operations worthwhile.

Gold Terra Resource Chairman and CEO, Gerald Panneton, believes that this proof can be provided, as last year’s master drilling intersected a typical gold intersection of 12.73 g/t gold over a length of 1.7 metres. An initial lateral wedge targeting the Campbell Shear zone approximately 75 metres north of the first intercept has already been drilled in recent weeks. However, the drilling contractor made a mistake while carrying out work on another wedge and the hole had to be abandoned.

It is still possible to confirm the basic idea

As a result of this error, the branching borehole and the time required for drilling have been lost. However, Gold Terra’s basic idea that the Campbell Shear zone continues below the historic mine was not jeopardised by this error.

In response to the error, it was decided to start a second, deeper drill hole about 600 metres below the Robertson shaft, i.e. around 1,900 metres below the surface. This is being done with the aim of testing a larger area for gold mineralisation in the CS.

If all goes to plan, the second deep drill hole will intersect the Campbell Shear an estimated 600 metres below the underground workings. The advantage of this approach for Gold Terra Resource is that it will allow a larger area to be tested by adding multiple wedges and intersections of the Campbell Shear to the existing drill plan.