i-80 Gold Corp. reported some impressive results from the first 16 holes drilled in the 2022 underground program at its Granite Creek mine, located in Humboldt County, Nevada. The program seeks to define mineralization for mining and test for extensions of the Ogee Zone, Granite Creek’s primary target.
During the fourth quarter of 2021, underground drilling platforms were established providing access to test the expansion opportunity of the Ogee Zone, the bulk of the ore to be mined in the next 12 months. Initial drilling is primarily focused on defining mineralization immediately below existing mine workings.
Drilling in 2022 continues to focus on further expansion in the area between the bottom level of the mine workings and the deepest hole drilled by i-80 so far to test the Ogee Zone depth extension (from surface), iGS21-15, that intersected multiple high-grade mineralized horizons including 13.3 grams per metric ton (g/mt) gold over 13.1 meters (m), 20.3 g/mt gold over 7.5 m and 10.1 g/mt gold over 17.5 m. Additional drilling has focused on extensions of the Otto, Adam Peak and Range Front faults beneath historic workings.
The company is in the process of expanding the underground workings so that multiple headings will be available for mining. The decline is being driven to depth and initial work is being performed to assess the potential to access the new South Pacific Zone located immediately below and to the north of the mine workings. It is expected that first ore from the underground operation will be trucked to Twin Creeks for processing in mid-2022, pursuant to an agreement with Nevada Gold Mines, until i-80’s Lone Tree facility is operational.
“These drill results further increase our confidence in the next level to be mined from the Ogee Zone,” stated Tyler Hill, senior geologist of i-80. “We continue to test extensions of the Ogee Zone at depth, which will complement expansion drilling in the new South Pacific Zone.”
The Granite Creek property is strategically located proximal to Nevada Gold Mines’ Turquoise Ridge and Twin Creeks mines at the north end of the Battle Mountain-Eureka Trend, at its intersection with the Getchell gold belt in Nevada. High-grade mineralization occurs in a near-identical geological setting as that at the multimillion-ounce Turquoise Ridge mine located immediately to the north. The Granite Creek deposit remains open at depth and along strike from the existing underground workings and step-out drilling aimed at expanding resources is currently under way.
