TNM Drill Down: Top Ten best gold drill results year to date

While rising interest rates have weighed on the gold price since it hit its most recent peak of over US$2,050 per oz. in March, exploration for the yellow metal is still running hot. Below are the top 10 best gold drill results for listed companies for the year to date and are ranked by gold grade x width, as identified by our sister company Mining Intelligence. 

1 KIENA – WESDOME GOLD MINES 

The top gold drill hole so far this year came from Wesdome Gold Mines’ (TSX: WDO) producing Kiena mine complex in Val-d’Or, Que. In June, the company released assay results for drillhole 6796W6 as part of its underground diamond drill program on the Kiena Deep A zone. That hole returned 50.7 metres grading 92.11 grams gold per tonne for an outstanding grade x width figure of 4,669.98 from 94 metres downhole. 

The Toronto-headquartered company said that since the completion of a prefeasibility study for Kiena in 2021, underground drilling has focused on exploring close to the Kiena Deep zones. It noted that the drilling campaign led to the discovery of a footwall last year, and that drilling continues to expand mineralized zones down plunge. 

More recently, underground exploration drilling on the Kiena Deep zones area discovered a new mineralized interval in hole 6752W10, approximately 100 metres below the known limits of the Kiena Deep A zone resource. 

Wesdome said that additional drilling will now be required to link this new mineralization to the existing lenses. The company is currently developing a hanging wall exploration drift at the 166-level to establish more optimal drilling platforms.  

Wesdome has budgeted $17.7 million for exploration at Kiena this year, including roughly 50,000 metres of underground drilling and 30,000 metres of surface drilling. It restarted production at Kiena in May 2021 after operations were suspended in 2013. 

2 ABUJAR – TIETTO MINERALS 

The year’s second-richest gold interval was delivered by Australia-based Tietto Minerals (ASX: TIE), at its Abujar gold project in Côte d’Ivoire. Abujar is curently under construction and targeting first gold in the fourth quarter of 2022. The company is looking to extend Abujar’s projected 11-year mine life through near-mine and regional exploration. 

On Jan. 24, Tietto announced drill results for hole ZDD895, part of its recently completed infill drill program on the main Abujar-Gludehi deposit shear on the property, which was designed to upgrade indicated resources. The hole intersected 25.4 metres grading 131.05 grams gold per tonne (grade x width of 3,325) from 36.6 metres, including 8 metres at 393.6 grams gold and 12 metres at 14.61 grams gold. 

A definitive feasibility study for the project in October 2021 estimated first‐year production of 260,000 oz. of gold, with 1.2 million oz. delivered over the first six years of mine life. Based on a gold price of US$1,700 per oz. and a 5% discount rate, the after-tax net present value is estimated at A$970 million ($871 million).   

3 WINDFALL – OSISKO MINING 

Back in Canada, the third best results for 2022 have come from Toronto–headquartered Osisko Mining (TSX: OSK) and its 100%-owned Windfall gold project on the Abitibi greenstone belt in the James Bay area of Quebec.  

In June, Osisko reported assay results from 43 intercepts in 15 underground holes and 12 wedges on the 122.53 sq. km property, roughly 200 km northeast of Val-d’Or and 700 km north of Montreal. 

Drilled on the Lynx zone as part of an infill drilling campaign, hole OSK-W-22-2605-W6 intersected 11 metres grading 293 grams gold per tonne (grade x width of 3,223) from 1,316.4 metres downhole. The larger interval included a 3.3-metre section grading 961 grams gold, 0.3 metre of 3,040 grams gold, and 0.3 metre at 5,400 grams gold. 

Commenting in a June 7 press release announcing the drill results, Osisko CEO John Burzynski said that Lynx continues to return wide high-grade intercepts, which will be included in an upcoming feasibility study due out later this year. 

“Our headline hole, with an estimated true thickness of eight metres, and other holes with sub-intervals over a kilogram of gold per tonne, demonstrate the robust nature of the high-grade areas in the Lynx 4 and Triple Lynx zones,” Burzynski said. 

4 WARRIOR – PURSUIT MINERALS 

Australian explorer Pursuit Minerals (ASX: PUR) is focused on platinum group elements-nickel-copper and gold projects. 

On May 10, Pursuit announced drill results from hole 21WDD0001, which intersected a near-surface 171 metres grading 12 grams gold per tonne (grade x width of 2,052). The hole was part of the company’s diamond core resampling program in the Phil’s Hill target at the Calingiri East zone on its 648-sq.-km Warrior project in Western Australia. 

Phil’s Hill contains two significant surface geochemical anomalies: the first is located half-way between drill sections, and the second is northeast of hole 21WDD0003. The company plans to further drill-test both anomalies. 

Pursuit says that drill results from the resampling program have led it to refocus its exploration to identify the core of the sulphide system and to target high-grade mineralization at the zone. 

Additional reviews and re-interpretation of the previous moving loop electromagnetic, versatile time-domain electromagnetic, and drillhole electromagnetic survey results are ongoing to further refine the best geophysical methods and survey designs to locate the core of the system, the company says. It added that it is also considering conducting a fixed-loop EM survey over the Phil’s Hill area to “more tightly constrain the location of conductor plates identified in the 2021 program.” 

5 EDLESTON – ASTON MINERALS 

Aston Minerals (ASX: ASO) is an Australian nickel-cobalt and gold exploration company focused on advancing its Edleston project in Ontario, about 60 km by road to the south of Timmins. 

In March, the Western Australian-headquartered company provided an update on exploration drilling on the property. Drilled on Edleston East in a zone located between Edleston Main and Sirola, hole DDED21-003 intersected 1.5 metres grading 1,356.11 grams gold per tonne (grade x width of 2,034) from 361.5 metres downhole. 

“The phenomenal grade of this intercept indicates that there is a very substantial amount of localized mineralization present,” said Dale Ginn, Aston’s managing director, in a Mar. 11 press release. “The subsequent drilling that we completed in this area did result in numerous low to moderate-grade nickel-bearing intersections which assisted us in locating the nickel-bearing units and discovery at Bardwell that is our current focus.” 

Aston said it plans to conduct further drilling close to DDED21-003 on alternative drill orientations based on an updated geological understanding of the controls on mineralization with the aim of defining the extent of the high-grade mineralization in the zone. 

6 – KOUROUSSA – HUMMINGBIRD RESOURCES 

Hummingbird Resources (AIM: HUM) is a multi-asset, multi-jurisdiction gold production, development, and exploration company with projects in Mali, Liberia, and Guinea. 

Headquartered in London, England, Hummingbird reported assay results in April for drill hole KRCD1729A at its Kouroussa gold mine, which is currently under construction, in the prolific Siguiri Basin in Guinea, West Africa. A metallurgical hole drilled to collect material for metallurgical test work, the hole intersected 30 metres grading 64.31 grams gold per tonne (grade x width of 1,929) from 84 metres downhole. 

The hole was drilled on the KK deposit as part of a 24,000-metre 2021 infill drill program completed in December. 

Hummingbird said that the results continue to demonstrate the high-grade nature of the deposit at relatively shallow depths, with the drilling focused on converting the current in-pit inferred resource for the KK open pits to the indicated category, and will build upon extensive historical drilling to expand Kouroussa’s  mine life and overall reserves. 

The company expects its first gold pour at Kouroussa by the end of the second quarter of 2023. The mine is forecast to more than double its production profile. 

7 MYRTLEFORD – E79 RESOURCES 

Headquartered in Vancouver, gold explorer E79 Resources (CSE: ESNR; US-OTC: ESVNF) is focused on advancing its 100%-owned 418-sq.-km Myrtleford property in the prolific and underexplored Victorian Goldfield in Australia’s Victoria state. 

The company said that drilling at the Happy Valley gold prospect, which lies within a 7-km-long trend of historical workings, confirmed the extension of mineralized structures substantially below known historic mining levels. As part of the drilling campaign, hole HVD003 made a high-grade gold discovery and intersected two zones of quartz containing both sulphides and coarse gold, returning 11.5 metres grading 160.44 grams gold per tonne (grade x width of 1,765) from 165.2 metres, including 0.6 metre at 2,430 grams gold and 3 metres at 126 grams gold. 

Following the discovery, E79 drill tested Twist Greek targets containing up to six lines of reef over a 3-km strike length within the 7-km trend that were historically mined with grades up to 28 grams gold per tonne. 

The inaugural drill program at Twist Creek, it said, was designed to focus on zones containing multiple reef structures with historical gold production, with drilling ongoing at the Twist Creek prospect within the property.    

8 CARIBOO – OSISKO DEVELOPMENT 

Osisko Development (TSXV: ODV; NYSE: ODV) is  focused on developing its 100%-owned Cariboo gold project, an underground gold mine in the historic Cariboo mining district in east-central British Columbia. 

In June, Osisko reported the final drill results from its 114-hole (49,500 metres) diamond drill core program on the Valley zone at the property. Hole CM-21-097 intersected 10.5 metres grading 164.92 grams gold per tonne (grade x width of 1,732) starting from 255.1 metres downhole, including 1 metre at 1,605 grams gold. 

Valley is one seven important mineralized zones within the broader Cariboo gold project and contains 4.4 million indicated tonnes grading 3.8 grams gold per tonne for 536,000 oz. contained gold and inferred resources of 2.1 million tonnes grading 3.4 grams gold for 2.1 million gold ounces. 

Osisko said that the drilling on Valley was designed to expand known vein corridors and increase confidence to support further technical work. 

A preliminary economic assessment for the Cariboo in May outlined a mining operation with a 12-year mine life producing an average annual gold production of 236,000 oz. at an all-in sustaining cost of US$962 per gold ounce. The company is aiming for a first gold pour in the first quarter of 2024. 

9 EFEMCUKURU – ELDORADO GOLD 

Vancouver-headquartered Eldorado Gold (TSX: ELD: NYSE: EGO) is a gold and base metals producer with mining, development, and exploration operations in Turkey, Canada, Greece, and Romania. 

In March, Eldorado reported assay results from resource expansion drilling on the Kokarpinar vein system at its Efemcukuru mine in Turkey’s Izmir province. Drilled at Kokarpinar South, hole KPR-102 intersected 3.4 metres grading 4.32 grams gold from 250.5 metres downhole, including 1 metre at 1,500 grams gold (grade x width of 1,425). 

That hole was part of the company’s 2022 global exploration program, which includes over 150,000 metres of resource expansion and discovery drilling and over 60,000 metres of resource conversion drilling. 

Eldorado said that recent resource conversion drilling at Kokarpinar has focused on the southernmost ore shoots (Kokarpinar South), where drill results are consistent with grades and thicknesses predicted in its current resource model, as well as defining a previously unrecognized narrow but high-grade splay in the footwall to the main vein. 

It said that drilling to date has defined this footwall vein over 750 metres of strike length and a dip extent of 200 metres, with step-out drilling at Kokarpinar South also extending the high-grade shoot downdip from the current resource area. 

10 HUMBOLDT RANGE – POLARX 

PolarX (ASX: PXX) is an Australian explorer and developer with high-grade, gold, copper, and silver projects in the United States. 

In July, the Western Australian-headquartered company reported that drillhole BC22-005 returned 9.1 metres grading 124.4 grams gold per tonne from 27.4 metres downhole, including 3.1 metres at 371 grams gold (for a grade x width of 1,150), at the Star Canyon prospect on its Humboldt Range gold-silver project in Nevada. The hole was part of PolarX’s first reverse-circulation percussion drill program, comprising 10 holes on the prospect. The company says the results highlight the potential for Star Canyon to host high-grade gold and silver veins within a potentially bulk mineable Carlin-style system. 

It said that Star Canyon is part of a much larger anomalous gold and silver zone known to contain many other mineralized veins with bonanza grade potential. Mineralization at the prospect remains open and is largely untested for the extension of bonanza grade veins. 

The drilling was primarily set to west dipping inclinations due to the angle of the terrain and test the bulk tonnage potential of the anomaly. To date, drilling has only tested an area of 600 metres by 400 metres within a soil anomaly measuring 2,500 metres by 1,000 metres. 

In light of the drill results, PolarX is prioritizing follow-up drilling at Star Canyon and the associated Ridgeline Target.