Outcomes from the 2022 Drilling on the east side of the Kitano-o prospect: Three diamond drill holes were completed on the east Kitano-o prospect in 2022 for a total of 2,035.3 m. The scout drill holes targeted coincident soil, gravity and CSAMT anomalies below historic workings and adjacent to major graben faults and rhyolite domes. Drill hole IDDD22-008 was located on the eastern edge of the Kitano-o mine workings, targeting a large CSAMT resistivity anomaly at depth within the cretaceous metasedimentary basement. From a depth of approximately 420 m down hole, the drill hole intersected silica and clay altered rhyolite corresponding with the CSAMT anomaly, some narrow crystalline quartz veins were encountered adjacent to the rhyolite, but these did not carry any significant gold anomalism.

Drill hole IKDD22-015 drilled south to test the depth extensions of veins mapped in the historical workings with highly anomalous gold and pathfinder element geochemistry in rock float, mine dumps, and soils coincident with a vertical CSAMT defined resistivity anomaly. A gold and pathfinder element anomalous interval was recorded over a length of 7.2 m with 0.33 g/t gold in the upper portion of the drill hole adjacent to an altered rhyolite intrusion which corresponded with the CSAMT resistivity anomaly. The lack of significant mineralization in the drill hole again further supports the conclusion that a deeper boiling zone gold source is de-coupled from the gold-enriched paleosurface.

There is also a possibility that the vein system dips south, and it would be conceivable for IKDD22-15 to have missed the larger structure it was targeting. A north oriented drill hole in this area is still warranted based on the new interpretations. Drill hole IKDD22-016 targeted a major northeast structure which controlled the emplacement of the Maruyama rhyolite dome located to the north of the Kitano-o mine workings.

CSAMT mapped the structure along the SE edge of the dome, where soils exhibit anomalous gold, arsenic, and antimony. The drill hole cut the dome margin as mapped by the CSAMT, but the contact zone hosted no significant vein mineralization. CSAMT and gravity have proven to be a useful tool in the district successfully mapping out lithologies, structures and notably rhyolite domes complexes and the cretaceous basement rocks.

This information will be carried into ongoing drill targeting for high-grade vein targets.