Pretium Resources’ 25,350-metre 2020 exploration program led to the discovery of a new zone of epithermal-style gold mineralization, the Hanging Glacier zone. The gold producer has released the results of its 2020 grassroots exploration program completed within the 1,200-sq.-km land package around the underground mine.
The Hanging Glacier zone is made up of two areas – North Hanging Glacier and South Hanging Glacier – which are approximately 4 km northwest of Brucejack. The two zones are defined by anomalous gold-in-soil values, which cover an area of 1.5 km by 1 km.
Drill highlights from North Hanging Glacier include the 2020 discovery hole, which hit 101 metres of 1.3 g/t gold; and 102 metres of 2.1 g/t gold in a 100-metre step-out to the northwest.
This year, Brucejack is expected to produce 325,000 to 365,000 oz. of gold, at all-in sustaining costs of $960 to $1,120 per oz. sold
South Hanging Glacier returned broad sections of low-grade gold; notable intercepts include 1 metre of 8.97 g/t gold and 5,150 g/t silver; and 295.4 metres of 0.51 g/t gold, which includes a 6-metre section of 4.93 g/t gold.
“This exciting discovery at Hanging Glacier, only four kilometers from the Brucejack Mine, shows the district-scale potential at Brucejack,” Jacques Perron, Pretium’s president and CEO, said in a release.
“We will significantly increase our resource expansion and exploration efforts in 2021 so we can surface value by extending mineral resources and pursuing the prospects for additional gold mineralization immediately surrounding the Brucejack Mine.”
This year, the company also completed additional exploration at the A6 anomaly zone, 14 km northwest of Brucejack, at the Koopa zone, 30 km east-southeast of Brucejack, and at the Haimila zone, 23 km southeast of Brucejack.
At A6, 19 drillholes continued to define a hydrothermal system; the 2020 drilling at Koopa tested deeper parts of the epithermal system; at Haimila, the drilling tested a zone of porphyry-style alteration.
Next year, Pretium expects to complete both a 195,000-metre definition and expansion program adjacent to Brucejack, and a near-mine exploration program, which will focus on Hanging Glacier. A 10,000-metre surface program is scheduled to define gold corridors and test for higher-grade veins and an additional 8,000 metres is allocated towards a 4-km trend of altered rocks which outcrop from the Hanging Glacier zone.
This year, Brucejack is expected to produce 325,000 to 365,000 oz. of gold, at all-in sustaining costs of $960 to $1,120 per oz. sold. The mine is in northwestern B.C., 65 km north of Stewart.
Midday Thursday, Pretium’s stock was up 3.7% on the TSE. The company has a C$2.8 billion market capitalization.
(This article first appeared in the Canadian Mining Journal)
