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Delta Resources (TSXV: DLTA) is closing in on a 52-week high on Friday following the release of bonanza-grade results from drilling at its Delta-1 gold project, located 50 km west of Thunder Bay, Ontario.
The latest results include the final four holes from the 2023 Phase 1 drilling, plus initial observations on the first step-out holes from the 5,000-metre Phase 2 program.
The highlight from Phase 1 was hole D1-23-38, which intersected exceptionally high gold grades of 1,636 grams per tonne and 697 grams per tonne, both over 1 metre. The mineralization was encountered in narrower intervals east of a northeast-trending cross fault that displaced the mineralized zone towards the south.
Delta said it is unclear at this point how this high-grade mineralization correlates with the wide intervals of lower grade west of the cross structure. Vein widths, density of veining and grade distribution can be highly variable within these large gold systems, and hole D1-23-38 is typical of that variability along the favourable structure and geophysical target, it added.
Another hole (D1-23-37) was collared on the same drill-pad as a 2022 drill hole and intercepted a wide zone of alteration and low-grade gold mineralization in the Alpha and Beta zones with significant grades in the Gamma zone (2.06 g/t over 17.5 metres).
The Phase 2 step-out drilling, which is targeting the “Deep Blue” magnetic low anomaly spanning over 1.5 km southeast from drill hole D1-23-38, is also showing signs of a larger mineralized system. Two holes drilled 100 metres east appear to mark a return to the very wide intervals of gold mineralization, with visible gold observed in both, the company said.
“These bonanza grades at Delta-1 are very impressive, but more important is the fact that we are doing large, 100-metre step-outs and are still consistently hitting strong alteration with higher-grade gold segments hosted within a broader zone of low- to moderate-grade gold,” CEO André Tessier said in a media release. “This speaks to the strength of the mineralizing system and the upside potential as our drilling progresses eastward into the larger ‘Deep Blue’ target area.”
The Delta-1 project covers a 17-km strike extent of the Shebandowan structural zone. The 58.8-sqkm property has been dormant since 2003, until it was optioned by Delta Resources in 2019.
Shares of Delta Resources were up 13.7% by 12:05 p.m. in Toronto, giving the Kingston, Ontario-based gold junior a market capitalization of C$39.2 million ($28.9m).
