Marathon Gold (TSE: MOZ) has released assay results for 16 drill holes completed within the 1.5-km long Berry zone at the Valentine gold project in Newfoundland, Canada.
The results include 11 infill holes completed within the Berry zone and five additional holes drilled to the northeast, within the Frozen Ear Pond Road (FEP Road) area. According to Matt Manson, Marathon’s president and CEO, these latest results include “long and high-grade intercepts” from both infill area and from FEP Road.
The drill highlights include 95 metres of 1.85 g/t gold starting at 101metres; 68 metres of 2.32 g/t gold from 115 metres; and 14 metres of 12.8 g/t gold starting at 134 metres.
In the release, Mason noted that the exploration work Marathon has completed over the past year suggests potential for resource growth.
“The results from our 2020 exploration drilling have demonstrated the potential for further resource growth atthe Project, with the 1.5-kilometre long Berry Zone emerging as an important new area of concentrated gold mineralization.”
Manson also added that assay results for the final 29 holes completed in 2020 will be released through to the end of January. An initial resource for Berry is expected towards the end of the first quarter.
Marathon expects to restart exploration at Valentine shortly, with details of the company’s 2021 exploration plans expected before month-end.
The Valentine project features four shear-zone hosted gold deposits within a 20-km-long trend. Measured and indicated resources stand at 54.9 million tonnes at 1.75 g/t gold for a total of 3.1 million oz. with additional inferred resources of 16.8 million tonnes at 1.78 g/t for a further 1 million oz.
In April, the company released a prefeasibility study for Valentine, which outlined a 12-year open pit and conventional milling operation producing an average of 175,000 oz. of gold annually in the first nine years of operation.
(This article first appeared in the Canadian Mining Journal)