K2 drills near-surface oxide gold at Mojave in California

The second batch of reverse circulation exploration results from K2 Gold’s (TSXV: KTO) Mojave property in southern California includes near-surface gold intercepts from the Dragonfly zone.

Most recent drill highlights included 30.5 metres of 7.18 grams gold per tonne starting at surface.  This same hole also hit 16.7 metres of 1.86 grams gold per tonne from 59.4 metres and 9.1 metres of 1.23 grams gold per tonne starting at 108.2 metres. Additional intercepts included 9.1 metres of 0.65 gram gold from 13.7 metres; and 13.7 metres of 0.49 gram gold starting at 21.3 metres.

To date, the company has drilled a total of eight holes from two drill sites, 236 metres apart, within the Dragonfly area, and reported the results of the first three in November.

One hole at the first drill site and all four holes at the second hit gold mineralization but were terminated before reaching their target depths due to difficult drill conditions (fractured and silicified rock).

Assays are pending for an additional nine holes, completed at the Newmont zone, 2 km south of Dragonfly and on the same structural trend.

“The second set of drill results from our flagship Mojave project continues to highlight the potential for near surface high-grade oxide gold resource definition,” Stephen Swatton, K2 Gold’s president and CEO, stated in a news release. “Despite being unable to reach the target depths from the second platform due to difficult drilling conditions, significant gold intercepts were encountered demonstrating the robust nature of the mineralized horizon; this is very encouraging news.” 

With the incoming drill results, K2 Gold views the Mojave mineralization as high-level, intrusive related with strong structural controls, similar to porphyry-epithermal systems in the Walker Lane trend.

The recent drilling confirms historical work completed at the site. In the 1980s and 1990s, BHP (NYSE: BHP; LSE: BHP) and Newmont (TSX NGT; NYSE: NEM) completed 35 reverse circulation holes, focusing on an area of 3 km by 1 km.

November’s drill highlights included 51.8 metres of 1.2 grams gold; 86.9 metres of 4 grams gold; and 62.5 metres of 1.4 grams gold.

In addition to the Newmont target results, in the coming weeks, K2 Gold expects to release assay results for rock samples collected at the Upland Valley and Gold Valley target areas as well as prospecting sample and geologic mapping results from four target areas. The company is also waiting on a timeline from the Bureau of Land Management on a public commentary period for a second phase of drilling, with at least 30 additional drill sites.

The 58.3-sq.-km Mojave oxide gold property also includes base metal targets.

K2 Gold signed an option agreement to acquire a 100% interest in Mojave in July 2019; the explorer is part of the Discovery Group.