Premium Finds Gold Under Friday-Petsite In Idaho

The latest drilling on Premium Exploration’s (PEM-B) Friday- Petsite gold project in Elk County, Idaho, has confirmed the continuity of the high-grade gold zone below the bulk tonnage resource area.

Premium has recently released assays from three holes of a six-hole, 2,000-metre program: Hole 2009-10 intercepted 198.4 metres grading 2.66 grams gold per tonne to 371 metres depth; hole 2009-11 returned 73.5 metres averaging 2.94 grams gold to 339.6 metres depth; and hole 2009-12 returned 83.4 metres grading 1 gram gold per tonne to a depth of 365 metres.

The company says these are the deepest holes drilled to date on the property, and they intercepted the mineralized zone up to 300 metres down-dip from the bottom of an historic drill hole, PC10, that returned 85.4 metres grading 3.81 grams gold.

Premium says the drill results support the current understanding of the mineralization’s geological and structural controls, and will be used to update and possibly upgrade the inferred resource estimate.

Current resources stand at 15.2 million tonnes grading 1.1 grams gold per tonne for 532,000 oz. gold, using a cut-off of 0.514 gram per tonne. The deposit extends along 350 metres of strike length and to 150 metres depth, and is open in all directions. Oxide mineralized material is on surface and non-refractory sulphide mineralized material starts at about 15 metres depth.

Including the six recently drilled holes, Premium will use the data of 22 holes for the updated resource calculation. Seven of the holes will be from the company’s first drilling phase that was completed last August, while other holes are from previous operators.

Premium has drilled 13 holes on the project but another 192 holes have been drilled by previous operators.

Two of the three holes that have not yet been released are step-out holes south of the known strike — about 475 metres from hole 2009-11. The holes focus on a 1,100-metre geochem anomaly. They were drilled at a higher elevation in order to tap into a higher level in the mineralizing system and intersect the structure associated with the Orogrande shear zone. The company says drillers intersected altered quartz monzonite and muscovite schist associated with the Orogrande zone, which is similar to the mineralized material in the first three holes.

Premium is also advancing the nearby Buffalo Gulch open-pit project. The company expects to produce 25,000 oz. gold per year once the project is permitted. The deposit is in the same Orogrande shear zone as Friday-Petside. Premium is currently updating a feasibility study and a historic resource estimate that estimated the deposit contains 95,000 oz. gold.

On the news, Premium shares rose 2¢ to 48¢ each on a trading volume of 384,000 shares.