Integra Resources (ITR.V, ITRG) has plenty of gold and silver at DeLamar, Florida Mountain and War Eagle to keep itself busy for a while, but we would almost forget the company has also completed some work on the Blacksheep district, which hosts several targets that either have not been explored in the past, or where previous operators barely scratched the surface. Blacksheep is located directly northwest of the DeLamar deposit and within wheelbarrow distance of the existing resources on the greater DeLamar gold-silver project.
In an exploration update last week, Integra released the assay results from a few holes drilled at the Georgianna, Lucky Days and Milestone targets in the Blacksheep district. The reported assay results include two holes were drilled at Georgianna, one at Lucky Days and one hole drilled at Milestone.
As you’ll notice, it’s not easy to single out the most important intercepts. Integra used the 3.05 meters of 5.99 g/t AuEq at Georgianna and the almost 79 meters of 1.43 g/t AuEq at Milestone in the headline of the press release, but even hole one at Georgianna deserves to be highlighted. After all, when you add up the three mineralized intervals of 9.75 meters of 0.95 g/t AuEq, almost 7 meters at 0.55 g/t AuEq and 22.55 meters of 0.45 g/t AuEq, you end up with a drill hole where mineralization starts just below surface, and about 38 meters of combined mineralization in three distinct layers. While the grades aren’t as exceptional as the high-grade interval in hole 2 at Georgianna, both Georgianna holes are very intriguing as even hole 2 (which is the high-grade hole) encountered a thick layer of lower grade mineralization just slightly deeper (with almost 42 meters of 0.44 g/t AuEq including about 21.3 meters of 0.61 g/t AuEq).
It is quite obvious the Blacksheep district warrants continuous exploration efforts. Keep in mind that although there has been some historical production on this 30 square kilometer land package, it remains virtually untouched by modern exploration techniques and the relatively thick layers of lower grade material at Georgianna confirm the gold-silver mineralization doesn’t just remain limited to DeLamar, Florida Mountain and War Eagle. One drill rig is still on site at Blacksheep and will continue to test targets and perhaps we will see a resource definition drilling plan by the end of this year. Given the location of the mineralization close to surface, the short distance to the DeLamar and Florida Mountain pits and the acceptable grades (although metallurgical test work will be needed to confirm the economic viability of the rock), none of the Blacksheep targets will have to be big to be considered as satellite deposits to the ‘main’ mining operations at DeLamar and Florida Mountain.
Drilling is ongoing, not just at Blacksheep but also in the Florida Mountain area. Integra remains on track to publish an updated resource estimate next quarter, followed by a pre-feasibility study by the end of this year.
Disclosure: The author has a long position in Integra Resources. Integra is a sponsor of the website. Please read our disclaimer.
