- Published: 17 January 2020
- Written by Editor
GT Gold drills 53 m of 10 g/t Au, 46 g/t Ag at Tatogga
The results from these holes help demonstrate the continuity and consistency of gold-silver mineralization at Saddle South, and all four drill holes yield vein, dike and lithological data that will be critical to building geological and resource models for Saddle South. The drill holes also confirm the interpretation that the Saddle South mineralized zone represents a westerly plunging vein field of sulphide-rich and local sulphosalt-bearing extensional veins and local vein-breccias. The mineralization delineated to date defines a near-surface zone of at least 500 metres in strike length and over 100 metres in width, and which can be traced to more than 500 metres below surface. The relatively well-constrained central and western parts of the Saddle South zone are part of the larger but less well-defined Saddle South system that strikes a further 600 to 700 metres eastward, for a total strike length of well over a kilometre. The Saddle South zone remains open at depth, to the east and to the west, where it appears to change to a southerly trend.
The new data collected in 2019 from this central part of the zone will provide the necessary control for the construction of a preliminary geological model for Saddle South, once work on Saddle North has been completed. This in turn will guide future work toward defining a resource inventory and a plan to progress Saddle South to an initial resource estimate.
Note: Intervals are calculated using a cut-off of 0.5 gram per tonne gold and a maximum of three metres of internal dilution for vein-style mineralization, with no top cut applied. All intervals are reported as downhole drill widths and are expected to vary widely, and likely range between 20 per cent and 70 per cent of true width.
Highlights:
Drill hole TTD135:
-
Intersected 14.80 metres of 4.29 g/t Au and 8.53 g/t Ag from 34.00 to 48.80 metres:
- Including 6.50 metres of 6.90 g/t Au and 12.16 g/t Ag from 42.30 to 48.80 metres;
-
Intersected 16.59 metres of 1.79 g/t Au and 5.18 g/t Ag from 62.50 to 79.09 metres:
- Including 1.50 metres of 5.87 g/t Au and 8.93 g/t Ag from 65.50 to 67.00 metres;
-
Intersected 53.73 metres of 10.00 g/t Au and 46.84 g/t Ag from 93.27 to 147.00 metres:
-
Including 35.73 metres of 13.45 g/t Au and 68.01 g/t Ag from 93.27 to 129.00 metres:
-
Including 15.02 metres of 24.90 g/t Au and 114.20 g/t Ag from 93.27 to 108.29 metres:
-
Including 6.73 metres of 31.69 g/t Au and 92.89 g/t Ag from 93.27 to 100.00 metres:
- Including 3.29 metres of 27.52 g/t Au and 142.24 g/t Ag from 105.00 to 108.29 metres;
-
Including 6.73 metres of 31.69 g/t Au and 92.89 g/t Ag from 93.27 to 100.00 metres:
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Including 15.02 metres of 24.90 g/t Au and 114.20 g/t Ag from 93.27 to 108.29 metres:
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Including 35.73 metres of 13.45 g/t Au and 68.01 g/t Ag from 93.27 to 129.00 metres:
- Intersected 2.59 metres of 9.47 g/t Au and 6.30 g/t Ag from 158.66 to 161.25 metres.
Drill hole TTD135 was drilled to the west-southwest at an azimuth of 245 degrees and an inclination of 45 degrees. The intersections reported for this drill hole show excellent continuity of mineralization with adjacent drill holes and lie less than 100 metres from surface. Together with the soil geochemical results from this part of Saddle South, which commonly yield results exceeding one g/t Au, there is a strong suggestion that the system comes to surface.
The headline interval of this news release of 53.73 metres of 10.00 g/t Au and 46.84 g/t Ag is from drill hole TTD135. It is dominated by a zone, approximately 12 metres in core length, of semi-massive to massive sulphide veining of either pyrite-dominant sphalerite carbonate quartz pyrite veins up to 1.5 metres in core length, or sphalerite-dominant pyrite carbonate quartz sphalerite veins that average 20 centimetres in core length. Colliform textures are common in these veins. Approximately 60 per cent of this central zone comprises sulphide-rich veins, while the other 40 per cent comprises sulphide-bearing siliceous breccia, with local wallrock fragments. Surrounding the more sulphide-rich core are zones of thinner centimetre- and local millimetre-scale pyrite-dominant sphalerite quartz carbonate pyrite veins, typically sheeted, which account for approximately 15 per cent of the core by volume.
Drill hole TTD137:
- Intersected 1.75 metres of 30.39 g/t Au and 56.71 g/t Ag from 131.00 to 132.75 metres.
Drill hole TTD137, an undercut of drill hole TTD135, was drilled to the west-southwest at an azimuth of 245 degrees and an inclination of 60 degrees. The results, with only local high grades, confirm that the vein system plunges westerly.
Drill hole TTD139:
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Intersected 11.00 metres of 5.53 g/t Au and 7.88 g/t Ag from 119.00 to 130.00 metres:
- Including 1.00 metre of 17.40 g/t Au and 29.80 g/t Ag from 128.00 to 129.00 metres;
-
Intersected 8.00 metres of 2.80 g/t Au and 2.45 g/t Ag from 175.00 to 183.00 metres:
- Including 1.00 metre of 6.99 g/t Au and 6.16 g/t Ag from 180.00 to 181.00 metres;
- Intersected 6.49 metres of 2.24 g/t Au and 1.27 g/t Ag from 187.00 to 193.49 metres;
-
Intersected 11.68 metres of 2.31 g/t Au and 21.63 g/t Ag from 198.00 to 209.68 metres:
- Including 1.22 metres of 12.55 g/t Au and 183.00 g/t Ag from 207.28 to 208.50 metres.
Drill hole TTD139 was drilled to the west-northwest at an azimuth of 300 degrees and an inclination of 45 degrees. Similar to TTD135, the intersections reported for this drill hole show excellent continuity of a very strongly mineralized system, from surface, where the soil geochemistry indicates that the system is exposed, down to depths of at least 100 metres, and remains open down plunge. These results, in combination with those from drill holes TTD135 and TTD140, define a well-mineralized central part of the Saddle South zone that is continuous from surface to at least a depth of 100 metres, across a width of at least 100 metres.
Drill hole TTD140:
- Intersected 8.00 metres of 1.14 g/t Au and 0.15 g/t Ag from 20.00 to 28.00 metres;
-
Intersected 15.00 metres of 5.60 g/t Au and 15.19 g/t Ag from 35.00 to 50.00 metres:
- Including 1.00 metre of 35.80 g/t Au and 32.60 g/t Ag from 44.00 to 45.00 metres;
-
Intersected 23.74 metres of 4.00 g/t Au and 15.23 g/t Ag from 53.36 to 77.10 metres:
- Including 4.36 metres of 8.77 g/t Au and 43.93 g/t Ag from 69.00 to 73.36 metres;
-
Intersected 28.30 metres of 6.58 g/t Au and 26.46 g/t Ag from 80.70 to 109.00 metres:
- Including 10.25 metres of 14.36 g/t Au and 64.06 g/t Ag from 85.75 to 96.00 metres;
- Intersected 23.00 metres of 1.70 g/t Au and 3.73 g/t Ag from 119.00 to 142.00 metres.
Drill hole TTD140 was drilled to the northwest at an azimuth of 310 degrees and an inclination of 55 degrees.
"The results from the four Saddle South drill holes, which were drilled primarily to aid our understanding of the geometry of this near-surface gold-silver system, serve to remind of the optionality this target offers to the development strategy of the overall project, as well as to the significant exploration potential across the Tatogga property," commented Paul Harbidge, chief executive officer of GT Gold.
Saddle South
In 2017, GT Gold completed the first drilling on the Tatogga project by testing a gold-in-soil anomaly which resulted in the discovery of the Saddle South precious-metal-rich vein system. The vein system is hosted by hydrothermally altered Klastline formation volcanic fragmental and volcaniclastic rocks of the Upper Triassic Stuhini group and is cut by dikes, primarily of Late Triassic and Early Jurassic age. The vein zone is coincident with a well-defined induced polarization (IP) geophysical anomaly that is expressed as a moderate chargeability high and resistivity low.
In 2017, a total of 28 reverse circulation and 58 diamond drill holes were drilled for 1,524.49 metres and 14,470.59 metres, respectively. None of the core from this drill campaign was oriented. High-grade intercepts included 6.95 metres of 51.53 g/t Au and 8.25 metres of 20.02 g/t Au in TTD007 and TTD046, respectively.
The 2018 diamond drilling was designed to test the strike and depth extent of this mineralized system, and a total of 36 drill holes for 16,587.22 metres were drilled. The results of this drill campaign further expanded and better defined the well-mineralized west-northwest trend of gold-bearing and sulphide-rich veins and veinlets. The zone has a strike length of over a kilometre in a steeply southerly dipping system up to 150 metres wide that plunges westerly to depths of over 400 metres beneath the floor of the valley west of Saddle ridge (40.89 metres of 9.55 g/t Au and 59.51 g/t Ag in TTD079).
2019 exploration drilling complete
A total of 25,146 metres were drilled in the combined phase 1 and 2 programs on the Tatogga property. For Saddle North, all 41 drill holes for 23,857 metres of drilling have now been reported, and for Saddle South, all four drill holes for a total of 1,289 metres are reported herein.
As previously mentioned, the four Saddle South drill holes were drilled in order to obtain structural data for veins in the west-central part of the Saddle South system, as none of the drill core from the 2017 drill holes in that area was oriented. The primary rationale for collecting these data was to better understand the controls on mineralization, with a secondary goal of collecting a representative metallurgical sample along the west-northwest-striking and westerly plunging system, which reaches surface in this area on the broad and gently sloping top of Saddle ridge. In order to maximize the amount of data collected with a minimum number of drill holes, the holes were drilled to the northwest and to the southwest at moderate inclinations, both along and across the east-west-trending Saddle South mineralizing system. The orientations of the drill holes were selected to maximize the number of mineralized vein intersections across the area with little oriented core.
Non-drilling activity
In addition to the drilling at the Saddle North and Saddle South targets, GT Gold continued exploring its Quash Pass target, which lies approximately seven kilometres south of the Saddle area. Quash Pass is a broad west-northwest trend characterized by coincident soil geochemical and IP geophysical anomalies and common iron carbonate alteration.
GT Gold has initiated a comprehensive relog of all the Saddle North core, which is in storage in Southern British Columbia. The relog is part of a thorough program designed to include study work that will ultimately progress Saddle North through resource estimation and economic evaluation, with an initial goal of completing a geological model for Saddle North by the end of the first quarter of 2020. Once the work on Saddle North is complete, a similar program will ensue for Saddle South, with a core relog analysis to generate a new geological model and a plan to progress Saddle South to a resource estimate. Furthermore, a dedicated exploration team is now integrating various datasets for the Saddle North area, for Quash Pass and for the greater property area to define drill targets for the 2020 field program.
Tatogga property
GT Gold's Tatogga project lies in the northern part of northwest British Columbia's prolific Golden Triangle, with active mines such as the Red Chris copper-gold mine (only 20 kilometres to the southeast) and the Brucejack gold-silver mine, as well as past producers such as Eskay Creek, Silbak-Premier, Snip, Anyox and Granduc, plus large-scale unexploited deposits such as KSM-Iron Cap, Snowfield and Red Mountain. The Tatogga property features district-scale exploration potential, with two recent discoveries, Saddle North and Saddle South, along with a third target, Quash Pass, which is close to being drill ready. All the targets are close to infrastructure, with Highway 37 and grid power running up the east side of the property to the Red Chris mine and the nearby village of Iskut.
Quality assurance/quality control procedures
GT Gold has implemented a rigorous quality assurance/quality control program to ensure best practices in sampling and analysis of diamond drill core, the details of which can be viewed on the company's website. All assays are performed by ALS Global Ltd., with sample preparation carried out at the ALS facility in Terrace, B.C., and assays determined mainly at the North Vancouver laboratory. For gold, fire assays are performed as per ALS method Au-AA26 (0.01 to 100 g/t Au) using 50 grams of sample measured by atomic absorption. Assays equal to or greater than 100 g/t Au are reanalyzed gravimetrically by method Au-GRA22. Silver and copper are analyzed by ALS method ME-MS61 with a four-acid digestion followed by ICP-MS analysis. Assays greater than 100 parts per million Ag or 1 per cent Cu are reanalyzed by ICP-AES by method OG-62.
Qualified person
Charles J. Greig, MSc, PGeo, vice-president, exploration, for GT Gold and a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved the technical information in this press release.
About GT Gold Corp.
GT Gold is focused on exploring for base and precious metals in the geologically fertile terrain of British Columbia's renowned Golden Triangle. The company's flagship asset is the wholly owned, 46,827-hectare Tatogga property, located near Iskut, B.C., upon which it achieved two significant discoveries in 2017 and 2018 at its Saddle prospect: a near-surface bulk-tonnage and potential deep high-grade underground-style epithermal gold-silver vein system at Saddle South; and, close by at Saddle North, a large-scale, richly mineralized porphyry gold-copper-silver intrusion.
SADDLE SOUTH ASSAY RESULTS FOR DRILL HOLES TTD141, TTD142, TTD143, TTD144 AND TTD145
From (m) To (m) Interval* (m) Au (g/t) Ag (g/t)
TTD135 34.00 48.80 14.80 4.29 8.53
Including 42.30 48.80 6.50 6.90 12.16
Including 42.30 45.00 2.70 11.96 19.71
Including 43.28 45.00 1.72 15.75 26.80
62.50 79.09 16.59 1.79 5.18
Including 65.50 67.00 1.50 5.87 8.93
87.00 90.00 3.00 1.19 5.06
93.27 147.00 53.73 10.00 46.84
Including 93.27 129.00 35.73 13.45 68.01
Including 93.27 119.00 25.73 17.54 83.48
Including 93.27 108.29 15.02 24.90 114.20
Including 93.27 100.00 6.73 31.69 92.89
Including 98.14 100.00 1.86 81.40 146.00
Including 105.00 108.29 3.29 27.52 142.24
158.66 161.25 2.59 9.47 6.30
195.23 197.00 1.77 0.57 0.69
205.00 207.00 2.00 0.63 0.38
225.00 231.00 6.00 1.70 1.30
243.00 247.00 4.00 0.83 0.44
257.00 261.00 4.00 0.84 0.64
301.00 307.00 6.00 1.08 1.45
390.00 392.00 2.00 1.70 0.75
TTD137 24.00 26.00 2.00 0.61 0.94
131.00 132.75 1.75 30.39 56.71
138.00 139.82 1.82 0.84 1.15
187.41 188.00 0.59 0.77 0.37
204.00 205.00 1.00 5.38 2.98
TTD139 26.00 28.00 2.00 0.97 0.30
34.00 36.00 2.00 3.54 1.26
65.00 67.00 2.00 0.90 1.38
98.49 103.00 4.51 0.96 0.54
106.00 114.78 8.78 0.76 0.52
119.00 130.00 11.00 5.53 7.88
Including 128.00 129.00 1.00 17.40 29.80
144.00 146.00 2.00 0.83 0.99
167.00 168.62 1.62 0.50 0.10
175.00 183.00 8.00 2.80 2.45
Including 180.00 181.00 1.00 6.99 6.16
187.00 193.49 6.49 2.24 1.27
198.00 209.68 11.68 2.31 21.63
Including 207.28 208.50 1.22 12.55 183.00
216.92 217.58 0.66 1.91 16.05
243.00 243.85 0.85 0.66 1.74
249.00 250.65 1.65 0.74 0.15
264.09 266.00 1.91 0.53 0.73
TTD140 20.00 28.00 8.00 1.14 0.15
35.00 50.00 15.00 5.60 15.19
Including 44.00 45.00 1.00 35.80 32.60
53.36 77.10 23.74 4.00 15.23
Including 62.00 73.36 11.36 7.03 30.36
Including 62.00 63.00 1.00 16.40 26.30
Including 69.00 73.36 4.36 8.77 43.93
Including 69.00 70.00 1.00 12.10 40.90
Including 72.00 73.36 1.36 15.45 98.10
80.70 109.00 28.30 6.58 26.46
Including 85.75 96.00 10.25 14.36 64.06
Including 87.95 89.39 1.44 20.00 89.20
119.00 142.00 23.00 1.70 3.73
Including 119.00 129.00 10.00 2.94 6.62
Including 126.00 129.00 3.00 7.37 8.57
146.00 148.00 2.00 0.77 0.62
151.00 154.22 3.22 1.21 1.88
164.00 165.00 1.00 1.25 1.46
174.00 175.00 1.00 0.64 1.67
183.00 193.00 10.00 0.52 0.67
199.00 200.32 1.32 2.40 0.45
204.61 206.00 1.39 0.66 0.49
224.47 226.22 1.75 2.56 4.47
* Intervals are calculated using a 0.5 g/t Au cut-off and a maximum of three metres of internal dilution
for vein-style mineralization, with no top cut applied. All intervals are reported as drill widths and
are expected to between 50 per cent and 90 per cent of true width.
