HighGold Mining Inc (CVE:HIGH) (OTCQX:HGGOF) is expanding its 2020 drilling program at its flagship Johnson Tract gold project in Alaska after closing a C$12 million financing.
The Vancouver-based company is now planning to sink 15,000 metres at Johnson Tract, up from the 7,000- to 10,000-metre program it had initially envisioned, it said Wednesday.
A third drill rig is set to arrive at the project in the first week of August, the firm said in a release.
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"With the recently announced $12 million bought deal financing HighGold has positioned itself to maximize the 2020 field season," said CEO Darwin Green in a statement.
"The accelerated exploration program, which now includes three drill rigs and 15,000 meters of planned drilling, provides an opportunity to materially advance Johnson Tract this year. With an additional drill rig, we can test multiple target areas at the same time and rapidly follow-up on exploration success."
HighGold’s exploration program is the first major drill campaign in 25 years at Johnson Tract, which already hosts a higher confidence indicated resource of 750,000 ounces of gold equivalent at a high grade of 10.9 grams per ton (g/t) gold equivalent.
The five target areas are the Northeast Offset, around 500m to 800m from the JT deposit; the North Trend, which extends 1,000m north from JT, and the Footwall Discovery, which was uncovered during 2019 drilling.
Also drilled will be the Southwest Extension and a target aptly named the JT Deposit Extension, where plans include step-out drilling northeast of one previous hole, which hit 75.1m grading 10 g/t gold, 9.4% zinc, and 0.6% copper.
As well as drilling, HighGold will carry out geological mapping, sampling, and geophysical surveys this year to advance regional prospects to the drill-ready stage at the 8,500 hectare project.
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