TerraX Minerals has released its first resource for its Yellowknife City gold project, 12 km from Yellowknife, N.W.T., totalling 735,000 oz. gold in the inferred category. Pit-constrained resources are 11.6 million inferred tonnes grading 1.4 g/t gold for 523,000 oz. while underground resources are 1.2 million inferred tonnes grading 5.7 g/t gold for 212,000 oz. gold.
The resource was calculated using a gold price of $1,300 per oz. and incorporates four deposits that are located within a 3-km radius: Sam Otto, Crestaurum, Barney and Mispickel. The deposits have seen 463 drill holes totalling 90,751 metres.
TerraX will be focusing follow-up drilling on Sam Otto, the largest of the four deposits, and Crestaurum, the highest grade. Shear-hosted gold mineralization at Sam Otto – a bulk-tonnage target with high-grade gold lenses – has been defined over a 4.5-km strike length.
“This first mineral resource for the Yellowknife City gold project is a major milestone in the project development,” said Gerald Panneton, executive chairman with TerraX. “To date, drilling has barely scratched the surface of the property and already we are having exploration success at Sam Otto and Crestaurum, and elsewhere. We are planning a drilling campaign for the first quarter of 2020 on these two main mineralized zones, where we believe the potential to increase the resources is excellent.”
Sam Otto remains open along strike and at depth. A starter pit is planned at Crestaurum, which contains high-grade gold in quartz veins and remains open in all directions.
The project is located only 7 km away from the past-producing Giant mine and 15 km from the Con mine on the prolific Yellowknife greenstone belt.
(This article first appeared in the Canadian Mining Journal)