Freegold drills strong wide intercepts in Alaska
Freegold Ventures (TSX: FVL) has reported further drilling success from its Golden Summit project in Alaska where it’s defining a starter pit in the lead up to a prefeasibility study.
Drill hole GS2523 cut 277.1 metres grading 1.24 grams from 349.6 metres downhole including 45.4 metres at 3.63 grams gold per tonne from 581.3 metres deep, the company said on Wednesday.
“One of the southernmost holes drilled in the Dolphin zone demonstrates the continuity and robust nature of the system, clearly indicating the potential to expand further and increase the overall grade at Golden Summit, and it remains open to the south and southwest,” the company said in a release. “Furthermore, it is one of the broadest gold mineralized intervals within the intrusive seen to date.”
Freegold reported four assays in the latest batch of 49 in this year’s nearly 32,000-metre infill and expansion program to upgrade and expand existing resources within the Dolphin-Cleary zone. The Golden Summit project has become one of North America’s largest undeveloped gold resources with 432 million indicated tonnes grading 1.24 grams for 17.2 million oz. gold and 358 million inferred tonnes at 1.04 grams for 11.9 million contained oz. as of July.
Freegold shares rose 4.6% to C$1.14 in Toronto Wednesday morning, valuing the company at C$578 million ($410 million).
Starter pit
Golden Summit is about 30 km northeast of Fairbanks and 6 km north of Kinross Gold’s (TSX: K; NYSE: KGC) Fort Knox mine. Freegold plans is to drill into mid-December then resume in February for an updated resource ahead of a prefeasibility study. Crews are also working to outline a starter pit and conduct cultural resource assessments, paleontology, groundwater analysis and studies on mammals and habitats, the company said.
Other drill holes reported Wednesday include GS2509, which cut 44.7 metres grading 1.16 grams from 242.3 metres deep; GS2511, which returned 18.3 metres at 3.3 grams from 346.7 metes downhole; and GS2514, which cut 33.6 metres at 1.44 grams from 202.4 metres underground.
“Ongoing drilling has continued to delineate zones of higher-grade mineralization and to convert previously considered waste areas into potentially economically viable mineralized zones,” said the company, led by President and CEO Kristina Walcott. “Continued westward expansion has resulted in the discovery of new higher-grade zones, increasing both indicated gold resources and grades.”
The 2025 drill campaign follows last year’s 25,000-metre program that fed into the expanded resource estimate. A 2016 preliminary economic assessment outlined a 24-year mine life producing 2.36 million ounces at average annual output of 96,000 oz., with initial capital costs estimated at C$88 million and a post-tax net present value at a 5% discount rate of C$188 million.