Big Ridge Gold Corp. announced that it has resumed drilling at the past producing Hope Brook Gold Project, located in southwest Newfoundland & Labrador. The company's drill contractor and operations team have returned to the Hope Brook Gold Project after taking a break in mid-December for the holidays.

Big Ridge will complete a minimum 25,000 meters of core drilling as part of the Phase 1 drill program. The drill program is designed to test the 1,200-meter gap between the 240 Zone and Main Zone and extensions to the southwest and northeast of the 240 and Main Zones. Drilling will initially focus on the highly prospective ground between the 240 and Main Zones at surface and to depth and move to the Northeast Extension once results from the CSAMT program have been interpreted.

Big Ridge shipped several completed holes to the labs prior to the holiday break and anticipates having first assay results available during the first quarter. This initial drilling focused along strike and southwest of the Main Zone. Shallow historic drilling completed by previous operators across 400 meters of strike southwest of the Main Zone and outside the current resource estimate generated high grade results including 4.69 grams per tonne (g/t) gold across 14.9 meters and 3.11 g/t gold across 18.0 meters.