All ten holes encountered mineralization, with the nine holes drilled inside the intrusion returning continuous mineralization over downhole intervals ranging from 143.2 m to 517.9 m in length.
Holes V-23-045 and V-23-048 returned 517.9 m of 1.14 g/t Au and 265.2 m of 2.20 g/t Au respectively, from surface. This expands the width of the high-grade, near surface core seen in previous holes, while V-23-045 also extends the depth of known mineralization in the east. Other holes add substantial volumes of known mineralization to the margins of the system as currently tested. Analytical results for an additional 19 holes (7,116 m) at Valley are pending, with drilling at Valley and other
'This latest round of results from our
HOLE V-23-045
Hole V-23-045 is collared within the Valley intrusion as a 100 m step back along section from V-23-037 (383.3 m @ 2.47 g/t Au from surface including 120.0 m @ 4.06 g/t, see
The hole encountered a continuous zone of quartz vein mineralization in granodiorite over 517.9 m downhole from bedrock surface at 3.1 m, averaging 1.14 g/t Au along this length and showing a high degree of continuity. Within this zone, a 125.5 m downhole interval beginning at 196.5 m averages 1.75 g/t Au. Another interval of 16.5 m downhole beginning at 406.0 m depth averages 5.07 g/t Au. Instances of trace visible gold were noted in quartz veins throughout the length of the hole. Capping grades at 10.0 g/t Au reduces the average grade of mineralization within the broader interval only 2.4% to 1.11 g/t Au.
V-23-045 is the northeastern-most hole testing Valley's well-mineralized corridor to date, and it extends the envelope of known >1 g/t Au mineralization considerably in this direction, where it still remains open. The hole also carries mineralization to depth, further expanding the known vertical footprint and highlighting the vertical exploration potential within the Valley intrusion.
HOLE V-23-048
Hole V-23-048 is collared within the Valley intrusion as a 95 m step along section to the southwest of V-23-039 (553.8 m @ 2.48 g/t Au,
Mineralization within V-23-048 is robust and consistent, averaging 2.20 g/t Au over 256.2 m, including a higher-grade zone averaging 3.28 g/t Au over 100.2 m from bedrock surface at 8.8 m downhole. The top 30.2 m of the hole, measured downhole from bedrock surface, averages 5.03 g/t Au. As with many other holes at Valley, this grade profile sees the highest grades of the system beginning at surface. Despite the high grades, only one assay exceeded 10 g/t Au (10.1 g/t Au over 1.0 m from 23.0 m downhole). Grade capping at 10.0 g/t thus has virtually no effect on results. As with other holes seen at Valley, this underscores the remarkable grade continuity within the system.
The hole crosscuts abundant sheeted quartz veins within the intrusion, in places carrying trace amounts of visible gold within the veins. It exits the intrusion into lightly mineralized hornfels and a series of 1-2 m wide dikes at 255.9 m downhole.
EXPLORATION UPDATES
Valley Target Drilling,
The 10,000+ m drill program at the
Satellite Target Drilling,
Phase II drilling is ongoing at the
At Reid, as previously described, LM-23-001 intersected a poly-phase intrusive system, with a coarse-grained granodiorite phase and a fine-grained porphyritic phase, and moderate to low vein densities. The hole was called at 623 m depth in coarse-grained granodiorite with low vein densities. A total of 15 instances of trace visible gold were observed in the hole.
A short Phase I drill program was completed at the Cujo target, located roughly 30 km west of Valley. CU-23-001 was drilled to 421 m in an exposure of a granodiorite intrusion with anomalous gold geochemistry. The hole intersected low to moderate densities of sheeted quartz veins. Nine instances of trace visible gold were observed during logging. A second hole, CU-23-002 was initiated but was abandoned due to concerns about pad stability on subsurface ice, and the rig was returned to Valley.
Results are pending for Rogue satellite target drilling.
Southwest Yukon Drilling
At the Tosh Property, the Company recently completed an expanded 6 hole, 1,719 m Phase I program focused on the 'Yarrow' gold-silver target, a zone of anomalous soils and rock grab samples associated with mineralized breccias. This program is the first ever drill testing of the Tosh Property.
QA/QC
On receipt from the drill site, Valley's NQ2-sized drill core was systematically logged for geological attributes, photographed and sampled at
All standard reference materials and blanks inserted into the sample streams for the two holes returned values within acceptable limits.
For the purposes of this release, mineralized intervals are defined as runs of mineralization with no break >5.0 m assaying
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