Rock sampling returns 184 g/t Gold, 20% Lead and 2.1% Zinc
Vancouver, BC – March 22, 2021 – HighGold Mining Inc. (TSX-V:HIGH, OTCQX:HGGOF) (“HighGold” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce the receipt of surface sampling results from its flagship Johnson Tract polymetallic Gold Project (“Johnson Tract” or the “Project”) in Southcentral Alaska, USA. Results reported today include rock and soil samples collected in the 2020 field season from regional prospects surrounding the main JT Deposit, including the Milkbone Prospect (“Milkbone”) and the Easy Creek Prospect (“Easy Creek”). Both prospects are spatially associated with a six kilometer long regional structure (referred to as the “Milkbone Fault”) that transects the north portion of the Project (Figure 1). Additional high-grade rock sample results for the Difficult Creek Prospect (“DC”) are also reported herein.
Surface Geochemical Highlights
Milkbone Results
A reconnaissance soil line collected across the trace of the north-south trending Milkbone Fault has identified a strong gold-in-soil anomaly with supporting high-grade rock sample results from near-source boulders and subcrop. The soil line crosses a large gossaneous alteration zone, located 400 meters west of the new High-Grade Ag-Au Vein Field recently announced at the DC Prospect (Figure 2) (see Company press release dated February 11, 2021). Highlight assay results include:
- 184 g/t Au, 46 g/t Ag, 20% Pb, 2.1% Zn, 0.1% Cu in a grab rock sample*
- 5.2% Zn and 0.4 g/t Au in a grab rock sample*
- Gold-in-soil values ranging from 70 ppb to 4,390 ppb (4.39 g/t Au) over a 150-meter wide zone
Easy Creek Results
A 1,500 meter x 1,000 meter gold-in-soil anomaly (20 ppb to 1,610 ppb gold) +/- copper +/- molybdenum has also been identified at the northern end of the Milkbone Fault at the Easy Creek prospect. Highlight assay results include:
- 1.3 g/t Au and 0.9 g/t Au/0.92% Cu in individual grab rock samples*
- Gold-in-soil values ranging from 70 ppb to 1,000 ppb (1 g/t Au) within a 350-meter diameter area surrounding a biotitic quartz-diorite intrusive with coincident copper-in-soil values ranging from 272 ppm to 1,805 ppm (0.18% Cu)
High-Grade Ag-Au Vein Field Results (DC Prospect)
New high-grade gold and silver assays are reported for veins at the western end of the High-Grade Ag-Au Vein field at the DC Prospect, expanding it to more than 1,000 meters in length, including:
- 1,500 g/t Ag and 4.1 g/t Au in a grab rock sample*
- 7.9 g/t Au and 94 g/t Ag over 1.4 m in a rock chip channel sample
*Note - grab samples by their nature are selective and not necessarily representative of the mineralization hosted on the property.
“We are extremely pleased with the regional picture emerging at Johnson Tract with recent surface exploration results now defining widespread, robust and diverse styles of mineralization over an area several square kilometres in size,” commented President and CEO Darwin Green. “We are looking forward to drill testing several of these new prospects for the first time in our upcoming 2021 field season while also methodically expanding our high-grade JT Deposit cornerstone resource (750koz at 10.9 g/t AuEq Indicated).”
2020 Surface Exploration Program
Concurrent with the 16,418 meter/32 drill hole program completed in the JT Deposit area, the Company carried out a regional exploration program designed to evaluate prospects on the surrounding district-scale 21,000-acre property. The work included reconnaissance-level geological mapping, prospecting and geochemical sampling to evaluate historic showings and to explore for new zones of mineralization. Rock sampling and contour soil sample lines were collected along with Induced Polarization geophysical surveys at the DC and Kona prospects.
Results from rock and soil sample locations are shown on Figure 1 and Figure 2. Results from other regional prospects will be presented at a later date pending receipt of additional assay data.
Discussion of Results and Regional Gold-Bearing Structure
The Milkbone Fault is a 6 km long north-south fault that may represent an important regional gold-bearing structure in the northern portion of the Johnson Tract project. It is separate and distinct from the main JT Deposit area located several kilometers to the southwest.
The Milkbone Fault dips steeply to the west and in the Milkbone Prospect area places fresh andesite on the east side against silicified pyritized dacitic tuff on the west side. Rock sampling of sub-angular float encountered while soil sampling across the surface trace of the fault at the Milkbone Prospect returned up to 184 g/t Au, 46 g/t Ag, 20% Pb, and 2.1% Zn. Sampling of the adjacent silicified pyritized host rock returned 1.03 g/t Au and 1% Pb. The east-west contour soil line over the trace of Milkbone Fault returned gold-in-soil values ranging from 70 ppb to 4,390 ppb (4.39 g/t Au) over a 150-meter wide zone. The Milkbone Prospect soil anomaly is located 400m west of the western limit of the new +1000 long High-Grade Ag-Au Vein Field discovered at the DC Prospect.
The Milkbone Fault can be traced four kilometers northwards to the Easy Creek Prospect where recent contour soil sampling has identified a broad 1,500-meter x 1,000-meter gold-in-soil anomaly (20 ppb to 1610 ppb Au) and local elevated copper and molybdenum. A cluster of very high values was returned from a 350-meter diameter area circling a biotitic quartz-diorite intrusive, where 33 soil samples range from 70 ppb to 1000 ppb gold (average = 273 ppb Au). Overlapping copper-in-soil values range from 272 ppm to 1,805 ppm (0.18% Cu). Rock sampling along the soil lines returned highs of 1.3 g/t Au and 0.9 g/t Au/0.92% Cu in individual grab rock samples.
The soil anomalies at the Milkbone and Easy Creek Prospects are open to expansion and will be a focus of additional follow-up during the upcoming 2021 field season. Along with the recently defined +1000m long Ag-Au Vein Field at the DC Prospect, multiple promising new targets have been identified for future discovery focused drilling.
The Company continues to process incoming data from the 2020 field season, including the inversion of DCIP geophysical data collected from the DC and Kona Prospects and additional rock sample data.
Figure 1. Johnson Tract Project – Plan Map with 2020 Surface Sampling Results
Figure 2. Johnson Tract Project – Plan Map of 2020 Milkbone to DC Surface Sampling Results
About the Johnson Tract Gold Project
Johnson Tract is a poly-metallic (gold, copper, zinc, silver, lead) project located near tidewater, 125 miles (200 kilometers) southwest of Anchorage, Alaska, USA. The 21,000-acre property includes the high-grade Johnson Tract Deposit (“JT Deposit”) and at least nine (9) other mineral prospects over a 12-kilometer strike length. HighGold acquired the Project through a lease agreement with Cook Inlet Region, Inc. (“CIRI”), one of 12 land-based Alaska Native regional corporations created by the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971. CIRI is owned by more than 9,100 shareholders who are primarily of Alaska Native descent.
Mineralization at Johnson Tract occurs in Jurassic-age intermediate volcaniclastic rocks and is characterized as epithermal-type with submarine volcanogenic attributes. The JT Deposit is a thick, steeply dipping silicified body (20m to 50m average true thickness) that contains a stockwork of quartz-sulphide veinlets and brecciation, cutting through and surrounded by a widespread zone of anhydrite alteration. The Footwall Copper Zone is located structurally and stratigraphically below JT Deposit and is characterized by copper-silver rich mineralization.
The JT Deposit hosts an Indicated Resource of 2.14 Mt grading 10.93 g/t gold equivalent (“AuEq”) comprised of 6.07 g/t Au, 5.8 g/t Ag, 0.57% Cu, 0.80% Pb and 5.85% Zn. The Inferred Resource of 0.58 Mt grading 7.16 g/t AuEq is comprised of 2.05 g/t Au, 8.7 g/t Ag, 0.54% Cu, 0.33% Pb, and 6.67% Zn. For additional details see NI 43-101 Technical Report titled “Initial Mineral Resource Estimate for the Johnson Tract Project, Alaska” dated June 15, 2020 authored by James N. Gray, P.Geo of Advantage Geoservices Ltd and Brodie A. Sutherland, P.Geo. Gold Equivalent is based on assumed metal prices and 100% recovery and payabilities for Au, Ag, Cu, Pb, and Zn. Assumed metal prices for the Resource are US$1350/oz for gold (Au), US$16/oz for silver (Ag), US$2.80/lb for copper (Cu), US$1.00/lb for lead (Pb), and US$1.20/lb for zinc (Zn) and are based on nominal 3-year trailing averages as of April 1, 2020. Historical metallurgical testing on drill core samples has indicated that good gold and base metal recoveries and marketable concentrates can be expected. Prior to HighGold, the Project was last explored in the mid-1990s by a mid-tier mining company that evaluated direct shipping material from Johnson to the Premier Mill near Stewart, British Columbia.
About HighGold
HighGold is a mineral exploration company focused on high-grade gold projects located in North America. HighGold’s flagship asset is the high-grade Johnson Tract Gold (Zn-Cu) Project located in accessible Southcentral Alaska, USA. The Company also controls a portfolio of quality gold projects in the greater Timmins gold camp, Ontario, Canada that includes the Munro-Croesus Gold property, which is renowned for its high-grade mineralization, and the large Golden Mile and Golden Perimeter properties. HighGold’s experienced Board and senior management team, are committed to creating shareholder value through the discovery process, careful allocation of capital, and environmentally/socially responsible mineral exploration.
Ian Cunningham-Dunlop, P.Eng., VP Exploration for HighGold Mining Inc. and a qualified person ("QP") as defined by Canadian National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this release.
On Behalf of HighGold Mining Inc.
“Darwin Green”
President & CEO
For further information, please visit the HighGold Mining Inc. website at www.highgoldmining.com, or contact:
Darwin Green, President & CEO or Naomi Nemeth, VP Investor Relations
Phone: 1-604-629-1165 or North American toll-free 1-855-629-1165
Email: moc.gninimdloghgih@noitamrofni.
Website: www.highgoldmining.com
Twitter: @HighgoldMining
Additional notes:
Rock samples are shipped by air and transport truck in sealed woven plastic bags to ALS Minerals sample preparation facility in Fairbanks, Alaska for sample preparation and from there by air to ALS Minerals laboratory facility in North Vancouver, BC for analysis. ALS Minerals operate according to the guidelines set out in ISO/IEC Guide 25. Gold is determined by fire-assay fusion of a 50 g sub-sample with atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS). Samples that return values >100 ppm gold from fire assay and AAS are determined by using fire assay and a gravimetric finish. Various metals including silver, gold, copper, lead and zinc are analyzed by inductively-coupled plasma (ICP) atomic emission spectroscopy, following multi-acid digestion. The elements copper, lead and zinc are determined by ore grade assay for samples that return values >10,000 ppm by ICP analysis. Silver is determined by ore grade assay for samples that return >100 ppm.
Soil samples are shipped by air and transport truck in sealed woven plastic bags to ALS Minerals sample preparation facility in Fairbanks, Alaska for sample preparation and from there by air to ALS Minerals laboratory facility in North Vancouver, BC for analysis. Gold and multi-elements are determined by aqua regia digestion for acid extractable gold (25g) and ICP-mass spectrometry.
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Forward looking statements: This news release includes certain “forward-looking information” within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (collectively “forward looking statements”). Forward-looking statements include predictions, projections and forecasts and are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as “seek”, “anticipate”, “believe”, “plan”, “estimate”, “forecast”, “expect”, “potential”, “project”, “target”, “schedule”, “budget” and “intend” and statements that an event or result “may”, “will”, “should”, “could” or “might” occur or be achieved and other similar expressions and includes the negatives thereof. All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this release, including, without limitation, statements regarding the Company’s currently ongoing drill program and pending assays are forward-looking statements that involve various risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Forward-looking statements are based on a number of material factors and assumptions. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from Company’s expectations include actual exploration results, changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined, results of future resource estimates, future metal prices, availability of capital and financing on acceptable terms, general economic, market or business conditions, uninsured risks, regulatory changes, defects in title, availability of personnel, materials and equipment on a timely basis, accidents or equipment breakdowns, delays in receiving government approvals, unanticipated environmental impacts on operations and costs to remedy same, and other exploration or other risks detailed herein and from time to time in the filings made by the Company with securities regulators. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause such actions, events or results to differ materially from those anticipated. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate and accordingly readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.
