TSXV: ARTG
- 27 m grading 12.5 g/t gold (starting at 24 m)
- 33 m grading 10.4 g/t gold (starting at 33 m)
- 21 m grading 12.4 g/t gold (starting at 18 m)
- 39 m grading 6.5 g/t gold (starting at 21 m)
- 45 m grading 5.6 g/t gold (starting at 18 m)
To date, results from the Program provide significantly increased confidence in the target area earmarked for the first year of operations at Blackwater compared with the corresponding area in the Company's mineral resource estimate as contained in the Company's 2020 PFS (defined below). The program confirmed wide, near surface intersects of elevated gold grades at the start of the mine life as outlined in the 2020 Pre Feasibility Study for Blackwater ("Blackwater Gold Project British Columbia NI 43-101 Technical Report on Pre-Feasibility Study" with an effective date of
The Program was designed to bring the drill density from up to 50 x 50m core spacing down to 12.5 x 12.5m spacing, generating up to 16 times the data when compared to the New Gold reserve definition drill program. This Program has targeted a zone within the first 60 m (six mining benches) from surface containing in excess of five million tonnes of high-grade ore to improve short-term mine planning at the start of production.
The other primary objectives of the Program were to:
- Optimize the grade selectivity and mine schedule for managing the ore tonnes and grade to be processed in the first year of operations;
- More accurately delineate ore and waste boundaries to mitigate dilution;
- Optimize drill and blast designs;
- Provide a larger sample size to reduce grade variability.
Summary of Selected Grade Control Drilling to Date
The Program consisted of 561 holes and 33,216 m of reverse circulation ("RC") drilling, which commenced in
The associated assaying work is ongoing, with all samples dispatched for analysis to
Table 1: Near-Surface Intercepts from Grade Control Drilling Program1
Hole ID* | East | North | From (m) | To (m) | Interval | Au | Ag |
BWRC00088 | 375612.5 | 5892750 | 21 | 39 | 18 | 9.3 | 23.8 |
BWRC00101 | 375450 | 5892750 | 24 | 39 | 15 | 6.7 | 12.8 |
BWRC00110 | 375600 | 5892762.5 | 18 | 63 | 45 | 5.6 | 11.1 |
incl. | 18 | 21 | 3 | 30.5 | 18.7 | ||
BWRC00119 | 375487.5 | 5892762.5 | 3 | 42 | 39 | 4 | 10.5 |
BWRC00122 | 375450 | 5892762.5 | 3 | 45 | 42 | 3.7 | 12.7 |
BWRC00147 | 375400 | 5892775 | 3 | 33 | 30 | 3.5 | 5.6 |
BWRC00157 | 375537.5 | 5892787.5 | 33 | 66 | 33 | 10.4 | 12.7 |
incl. | 45 | 51 | 6 | 39.4 | 36.3 | ||
BWRC00179 | 375575 | 5892800 | 21 | 45 | 24 | 5.9 | 9.3 |
BWRC00180 | 375562.5 | 5892800 | 27 | 54 | 27 | 5.8 | 9.5 |
BWRC00190 | 375437.5 | 5892800 | 18 | 39 | 21 | 12.4 | 12.2 |
incl. | 21 | 24 | 3 | 43.2 | 29.2 | ||
BWRC00193 | 375400 | 5892800 | 9 | 18 | 9 | 11.4 | 11.5 |
incl. | 9 | 12 | 3 | 22.5 | 11.9 | ||
BWRC00250 | 375250 | 5892812.5 | 6 | 60 | 54 | 3.2 | 7.1 |
BWRC00251 | 375237.5 | 5892812.5 | 21 | 60 | 39 | 6.5 | 10.8 |
incl. | 51 | 54 | 3 | 26.4 | 12.3 | ||
BWRC00259 | 375700 | 5892825 | 6 | 36 | 30 | 4 | 4.2 |
BWRC00265 | 375625 | 5892825 | 45 | 54 | 9 | 12.1 | 31.5 |
incl. | 48 | 51 | 3 | 21.5 | 57.2 | ||
BWRC00267 | 375600 | 5892825 | 21 | 48 | 27 | 6.8 | 14.8 |
BWRC00280 | 375437.5 | 5892825 | 48 | 60 | 12 | 12.6 | 15.5 |
incl. | 51 | 54 | 3 | 24.9 | 25.8 | ||
BWRC00297 | 375225 | 5892825 | 45 | 60 | 15 | 11.9 | 36.4 |
incl. | 54 | 57 | 3 | 30.8 | 72.3 | ||
BWRC00298 | 375212.5 | 5892825 | 42 | 60 | 18 | 48.7 | 12 |
incl. | 57 | 60 | 3 | 21.9 | 21.4 | ||
BWRC00319 | 375512.5 | 5892837.5 | 24 | 51 | 27 | 12.5 | 16.7 |
incl. | 39 | 42 | 3 | 58.5 | 54.3 | ||
BWRC00344 | 375200 | 5892837.5 | 33 | 57 | 24 | 7.9 | 6.3 |
incl. | 45 | 48 | 3 | 21.2 | 15.1 | ||
BWRC00357 | 375600 | 5892850 | 30 | 42 | 12 | 9.9 | 68.7 |
BWRC00389 | 375200 | 5892850 | 45 | 57 | 12 | 13.8 | 12.2 |
incl. | 51 | 54 | 3 | 27.5 | 13.9 |
* All holes were drilled with a dip of -90º (vertical). Drill hole intercepts reflect minimum 70% of the true widths of the orebody. Only intercepts greater than 9 m of length and width x grade greater than 100 g–m of gold are reflected in this news release. |
** Assay results are based on the leached Au and Ag after 5-hour LeachWELLTM accelerated leach, and exclude Au and Ag remaining in residue solids. |
______________________________ |
1 Refer to notes 1, 2, and 3 within the section entitled "Technical Disclosure" at the end of this press release |
The LeachWELLTM assay method was selected to increase the sample size from a more standard 50g to one kilogram sample which reduces variability and increases repeatability of assay results. Additionally, the LeachWELLTM method increases the understanding of leachability of the orebody with the information feeding directly into the process design. Extensive duplicate analyses highlight excellent LeachWELLTM repeatability of assay results and recoverable gold and silver.
To date, 849 samples were assayed for residue gold and silver concentration in the LeachWELLTM residues, resulting in a calculated overall recovery of 96.7% for gold and 72.2% of silver.
The Program has also confirmed excellent continuity of mineralization, based on available assay results, as illustrated in the sections provided in Figures 3-8. The location of these sections is provided in Figure 2.
A further update on the grade control drilling results and conclusions will be provided later in Q2 2021 once all final assay results have been completed and interpreted by the Company.
Technical Disclosure
Drill sampling consisted of reverse circulation drill cuttings being collected at a drill mounted Metzke rotating cone splitter by Artemis personnel on 3 m intervals. Samples were placed into bags and further split at the Blackwater sampling facility to ~3 kg sample size using a jones riffle splitter. Samples were tagged with barcodes, placed in a sample crate and a laboratory dispatch form was completed. Samples were stored in a secure location prior to shipping. Chain-of-custody procedures consisted of filling out sample submittal forms that were sent to the laboratory with sample shipments to make certain that all samples were received by the laboratory.
Sample preparation and analysis were performed by
The representativeness of the LeachWELLTM analytical technique to a mineral deposit is dependent on the leaching characteristics of the material submitted. As no certified standard reference material had been prepared from the same material that was to be leached, no standard reference materials were inserted in the grade control sample stream to directly monitor analytical precision. Precision checks consisted of comparisons to results from split samples using 50 g fire assay methods, comparison of data to existing diamond drill holes and review of SGS laboratory standards. Additionally, LeachWELLTM tails solids were consistently checked for non leachable gold and silver using 50 g fire assay for gold and 2 g 4-acid digestion for silver. The Company randomly inserted blank and duplicate samples into the sample stream as part of the quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC) monitoring for the Program at an insertion rate of ~10%. These samples had closely monitored contamination, splitter functionality and analytical repeatability, respectively.
Mr.
Qualified Persons
On behalf of the Board of Directors
"Steven Dean"
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
+1 604 558 1107
Neither the
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information
This news release contains certain "forward looking statements" and certain "forward-looking information" as defined under applicable Canadian and
SOURCE
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