Although the recent drill results of Contact Gold (C.V) were focusing on the Bowl Zone of the Pony Creek project, the company also drilled the Appaloosa zone for the first time in two years. The assay results of four holes have now been published. One additional hole was abandoned due to poor ground conditions before it could reach the target zone and that’s a pity as that hole was specifically trying to connect the Appaloosa gold zone with the previously confirmed Mustang zone at Pony Creek.
The remaining four holes all contained gold, but we probably shouldn’t care too much about holes 15 and 18 as the entounctered intervals are short and low-grade. 0.14-0.19 g/t material could eventually end up in a mine plan as it will probably (barely) meet the cutoff grade but with a gross rock value of just over $9/t the mineralization in holes 15 and 18 won’t be rainmakers.
Hole 16, which was drilled in between two zones that were previously drilled contained almost 29 meters at 0.38 g/t (gross rock value: $18.3/t), including a very high-grade interval of 3 meters containing 2.19 g/t gold. This means the remaining 25.91 meters of hole 16 contained just 0.17 g/t gold so the high-grade interval is what juices up the entire 29 meter intercept.
Hole 17 encountered several layers of gold mineralization and confirms the mineralization extends towards the south from historical drill locations. The highlighted intervals are 7.62 meters of 0.84 g/t (including 3.05 meters at 1.56 g/t gold which means the remaining 4.57 meters contain an average of 0.36 g/t which is still fine) followed by almost 14 meters containing 0.31 g/t gold less than 14 meters deeper.
Finding gold in almost every single hole is both a blessing and a curse for Contact Gold. Finding gold all over the place is a clear positive, but Contact Gold needs that one intriguing intercept to get its share price going. Contact has proven the Pony Creek project has widespread gold mineralization on the claims and as such, it could be an interesting target for nearby Gold Standard Ventures (GSV, GSV.TO), whose recent PEA was a bit disappointing. Should GSV go ahead with the development of a heap leach operation, it would make sense to have a holistic approach by looking at the entire district as sometimes 1+1 equals 3.
The assay results of six more holes are pending and once those will be released, we’ll see how successful the 24 hole, 4,660 meter drill program was.
Disclosure: The author has a long position in Contact Gold. Contact is a sponsor of the website.
