Northern Gold Girds For Round II At Garrison

Northern Gold Mining (NGM-V) is planning the next round of exploration drilling at its Garrison gold property near Kirkland Lake, Ont., as the assay results from the first round now come in.

The company, which signed an option for an 80% interest in the property from ValGold (VAL-V) last fall, has now reported the sixth, seventh and eighth holes from its eleven-hole, 2,300-metre program. The focus has been on the shallow Garrcon zone on the north side of the Destor-Porcupine fault.

“This was our first program and it exceeded our expectations,” says Northern Gold president and CEO Martin Shefsky. “We’re looking to follow it up and then generate our first (National Instrument) 43-101 resources estimate.”

Highlights consist of an 84.2- metre interval in hole 6 grading 1.49 grams gold per tonne including 17.5 metres of 2.44 grams gold and 37.2 metres of 2.03 grams gold per tonne.

Hole 7 returned 9.6 metres of 2.22 grams gold and 8.5 metres of 3.24 grams gold including a short high-grade interval of 50 cm of 27.02 grams gold.

Hole 8 delivered lower-grade intervals such as 13 metres of 0.6 gram gold and 17 metres of 0.75 gram gold.

Visible gold was in the core of each hole.

Shefsky says the company will drill another 2,500 metres or so beginning in late March. “It could be a little more, it depends on the con- sultants and what is required to generate a resource.”

The company has about $1 million in the bank. Shefsky says it will be enough to complete the drill program and the resource.

“Going forward we would look to do a financing at higher prices and continue a program over onto the Jonpol.”

Jonpol, or JP, is another zone on the Garrison property. It’s an underground target with a NI 43-101 resource estimate. Indicated resources stand at 253,000 tonnes grading 7.77 grams per tonne gold for 63,000 oz. and an inferred resource are 1.6 million tonnes grading 4.93 grams gold for 247,000 oz.

Between 1985 and 1992, Jonpol Explorations drilled more than 80,000 metres, sunk a 184-metre inclined shaft, completed 148 metres of drifting on the 150-metre level of the Main JP zone and carried out a bulk sample of the JP zone.

Hillsborough mined about 50,600 tonnes grading 8.3 grams gold per tonne in 1997 using the ramp to the 150-metre level. The company had intended to do a larger bulk sample but the sudden drop in gold price that year forced it to give up the project.

And between 2005-2008, ValGold drilled another 32,000 metres and completed a resource estimate for the JP, RP, JD and East zones.

“The amount of historical data was a big factor (in optioning the project) and the fact that a lot of it hadn’t been compiled and put together,” Shefksy says.

The Garrcon zone has a historical resource of 351,000 tonnes grading 5.9 grams gold per tonne, occurring in a broader low-grade mineralized zone about 175 metres east-west and 300 metres north-south, extending to a depth of about 200 metres.

Shefsky says the decision to drill the Garrcon zone first was a matter of cost and duty to shareholders.

“It’s shallower, less expensive and more value to shareholders,” Shefsky explains. “If we can generate additional ounces it’s a better return on our dollars in a quicker manner than drilling a deeper hole.”