On July 11, 2019 White Gold (.V: WGO) put out a press release indicating that it had identified new district scale high-grade gold trends on its properties in the Yukon. We had some follow-up questions and White Gold sent us over the answers.
How did White Gold select the areas to deploy the GT probe?
All of our exploration targets are generated and progressed using the proprietary, data-driven program – Drones to Drills, the brainchild of famed prospector Shawn Ryan, our Chief Technical Advisor. This program allows us to move quickly and efficiently, maximizing every exploration dollar we spend. Starting with drone imagery, IP resistivity and Lidar, we are able to cover a lot of land quickly and inexpensively. Soil sampling allows our team to test for gold anomalies and the presence of other pathfinder elements in the ground. This is particularly effective on the Yukon’s unglaciated land because the mineral profile in the soil is indicative of the rock directly below it. Next, we bring in the innovative GT Probe, which is a track-mounted device designed to drive a cased hole through the soil profile to the bedrock interface. At this stage, we are not looking to hit the deposit itself, but rather confirm the presence of gold before moving to drilling. At the Vertigo target at JP Ross, we have now moved to the next stage – RAB drilling. The RAB drill allows us to drill cheap, fast, 100m holes to quickly test new targets. After all of these boxes have been checked, we move on to RC or Diamond drilling, using these more expensive resources sparingly and efficiently.
Can you describe how the GT Probe operates and what the samples it produces actually look like?
The GT Probe is a track-mounted device designed to drive a cased hole through the soil profile to the bedrock interface, with samples of rock and soil collected from the final 30 centimetres of the hole and analyzed for gold and other pathfinder elements. The depth of each hole to bedrock is up to two metres with holes located on two-metre-to-five-metre intervals on lines designed to cut across defined soil anomalies. The GT Probe is used as a cost-effective intermediate step between soil sampling and drilling, providing similar data to traditional trenching but with minimal environmental impact and more representative sampling.
How quickly can the GT Probe take a sample?
It only takes about 5 minutes for the GT Probe to take a single sample. This is repeated along lines consisting of two-metre-to-five-metre intervals. This quickly gives data comparable to that achieved through traditional trenching at a small fraction of the cost, time and environmental impact.
In the press release, you talk about “district scale mineralization modelling”. Can you describe how that model is being developed and give some indication of the size of the trend you are looking at?
The model of the Vertigo and surrounding targets has been the result of our unique approach to exploration which includes soil sampling, lidar and IP (induced polarization) resistivity testing as well as GT Probe sampling and RAB, RC and diamond drilling. This exploration work has demonstrated the presence of district-scale mineralization along an 18-kilometre structural trend that hosts the Vertigo discovery as well as other high probability targets including the Stage Fright, Sabotage and Topaz targets. Many of these targets display the same mineralization style as the Vertigo discovery and have returned multiple high-grade surface samples including 304.3 g/t, 156.2 g/t, 139.9 g/t, 135.6 g/t and 132.9 g/t gold. The newly identified trends discussed in this news release on the Stage Fright, Sabotage, Topaz and Vertigo targets are all located within 10 kilometres of the original Vertigo discovery. Follow-up work for these targets will include prospecting and RAB (rotary air blast) drilling. Several additional targets have also been identified on the JP Ross property and will be tested in due course.
You indicate in the release that White Gold plans 17,000 meters of diamond drilling this season. Are these going to be shallow holes or will you be looking at some deeper holes?
This season we will complete approximately 17,000 meters of diamond drilling and 7,500 meters of RC drilling. Of these 17,000 meters, 10,000 meters will focus on the Vertigo target to define the geometry of mineralized structures along trend, and evaluate the lateral and vertical continuity of the mineralization. This includes evaluation of the target across the currently defined width of the zone and up to 500 m of strike length along the core of the system. The Vertigo system starts from surface and our intention this season is to chase the mineralization down dip with holes up to 300 meters.
We will also be completing approximately 6,000 meters of diamond drilling on the Golden Saddle and Arc deposits. At the Golden Saddle, drilling will focus on the expansion of the GS West zone, both along strike and downdip. Limited historic drilling has occurred between the GS West and the GS Main and one of the company’s key objectives for the 2019 season will be to expand this zone and explore the potential continuity between the two zones. Drilling will also be conducted on the GS Main and GS footwall and will focus on infilling gaps in the current model, particularly the high-grade core. Drilling activity on the Arc will focus on the expansion of the deposit along strike, and targeted infill drilling to evaluate continuity on higher-grade (greater than two g/t Au) areas within the model. Diamond drilling on the Golden Saddle and Arc will also test depths of up to approximately 300 meters, but with a focus on near-surface announces surrounding the deposit. Numerous other targets are known on the property and additional drilling may be conducted in these areas as warranted.