Kelowna, British Columbia (FSCwire) - Golden Ridge Resources Ltd. (TSX.V: GLDN) (the “Company” or “Golden Ridge”) has completed its 2017 exploration program on its Hank Property (the “Property” or “Hank”) located in the British Columbia’s Golden Triangle.
The Hank project is strategically located in British Columbia’s renowned Golden Triangle district, a belt of high-grade gold and base metal mines and prospects in Northwest BC, currently experiencing a resurgence of discovery exploration, following the construction of the Northwest Transmission Line and the paving of Highway 37. Recent discoveries in the district include GT Gold Corp.’s1 high grade Saddle Gold prospect, as well as Garibaldi Resources1 announcement of massive sulfide Nickel-Copper mineralization encountered in 2017 drilling on their E&L property.
Golden Ridge has now concluded its 2017 exploration program at the Hank following the onset of inclement weather conditions. The 2017 program consisted of diamond drilling, ground magnetic surveying and prospecting.
Highlights of the 2017 work include:
- 4250m of diamond drilling in 14 holes, focused mostly on the Property’s 2.5 kilometer long Lower Alteration Zone (“LAZ”).
- High resolution ground magnetic survey and hand stripping of a new Cu-Au porphyry discovery (Ball II Zone)
Golden Ridge completed 14 diamond drill holes on the Hank Property, for a total of 4,250 meters drilled. Assays are currently pending for the drill core and will be released as analytical results are received over the next month.
The main objective of the Phase I drill program was to gain a better understanding of the geology and controls on mineralization as well as to test the continuity of mineralization both at depth and along strike. This was accomplished by twinning select historic2 holes, followed later by stepping-out along strike and down dip of the twinned holes, in order to get an understanding of the orientation of mineralized zones as well as the plunge of any potentially higher grade shoots.
The historic2 drilling which took place on the Property from the mid-1980’s through to the early-1990’s, was focused almost exclusively on gold. All 2017 core samples however were analyzed for 51 elements, including silver, lead and zinc, which all occur in significant concentrations in the lower alteration zone, and were only selectively analyzed for historical2 purposes.
2017 core diameter was “HQ” size, which allowed a significantly larger sample, as opposed to the “BQ” size core which was employed historically2. The larger core diameter allows for a reduction in the “nugget effect”, which can be significant in high grade gold systems containing coarse free gold, such as is possible at the Hank Property. To further reduce the nugget effect, the Company employed a 50g aliquot size for fire assay, which is the largest subsample of pulverized core pulp typically offered by the commercial assay laboratories.
The Company’s initial plan was to focus on deep drilling underneath the Felsite Hill zone, and the down dip extension of the Upper Alteration Zone (UAZ), however encouraging visuals, comprised of galena+sphalerite veins intersected in the Lower Alteration Zone early in the program resulted in a change of strategy, and a focus on defining the extents of these mineralized vein systems. One hole of the fourteen drilled was completed in the UAZ and the Company intends to continue drilling down dip of the historical UAZ resource2 and underneath of Felsite Hill in 2018.
Late in the season, hand trenching of a strong (up to 4780 ppm) 2016 copper-in-soil anomaly across the valley from the LAZ, uncovered well mineralized and strongly altered monzonite porphyry, in covered bedrock near the valley bottom. The monzonite is strongly potassic altered, with hydrothermal k-feldspar, biotite and magnetite as veins and disseminations. Disseminated and quartz vein hosted bornite and chalcopyrite, associated with specularite after magnetite, occur throughout the hand stripped exposure, with no pyrite, indicating the center of a copper porphyry system. Assays are pending on surface samples collected from this target.
Michael Blady, CEO, comments “All things considered, we are very pleased with the work and progress that our contractors and partners have been able to achieve in the limited timeframe given to complete exploration prior to snowfall. This program marks the first time the Hank has been drilled in 24 years and we are encouraged to begin exploring the project again with modern drill equipment and robust analytical methods to evaluate not only the gold but also the silver-lead-zinc potential. Golden Ridge maintains a strong treasury from a recent financing and is well positioned to continue exploring the Hank project over the coming years.”
Following the completion of exploration, Golden Ridge met with leaders of the Tahltan Central Government and had positive meetings regarding the future of the Company’s exploration plans on the Hank. Golden Ridge intends to continue to maintain this positive working relationship by employing local Tahltan workers and businesses for the mutual benefit of both the Company and local communities.
Cautionary Notes 1 – 3
1. This news release contains information about adjacent properties on which Golden Ridge has no right to explore or mine. Readers are cautioned that mineral deposits on adjacent properties are not indicative of mineral deposits on the Company's properties.
2. Historical information contained in this news releases maps or figures regarding the Company’s project or adjacent properties are repeated for historical reference only and cannot be relied upon as the Company’s QP, as defined under NI-43-101 has not prepared nor verified the historical information.
About Golden Ridge
Golden Ridge is a TSX-V listed British Columbia company, which holds an option to earn a 100-per-cent interest in the 1,700-hectare Hank gold-silver-copper property located in the Golden Triangle district, approximately 140 kilometers north of Stewart, British Columbia. Golden Ridge can earn a 100-per-cent interest by performing $1.7-million of exploration work by the end of 2018; this is subject to a certain back-in provision if a deposit equals or exceeds three million ounces of gold in the mineral resource category.
