Marathon Gold has released drill results from its Valentine Gold project 55 km south of Buchans with a number of infill intercepts above the current resource grades. The holes were focused on the Marathon deposit Main zone. Highlights include:
- Hole MA-19-483 returning 5.08 g/t gold over 18 metres
- Hole MA-19-477 returning 4.24 g/t gold over 21 metres
- Hole MA-19-485 returning 15.88 g/t gold over 6 metres
The results confirm the presence of mineralized veining within the inferred resource areas and into areas with limited drilling.
Marathon has also completed a 7,000 metre exploration program at the Sprite zone with assays pending.
The Main zone at Marathon consists of stacked gold bearing veins within a 100 to 150 metre wide corridor with a strike length in excess of 1.5 km which starts at surface.
Currently identified areas of mineralization are open on strike and at depth within a 20 km trend.
A preliminary economic assessment completed on the project in October 2018 outlined a potential heap leach and milling operation with a combined throughput of 18,000 t/d and average annual gold production of 225,100 oz. at all in sustaining costs of $666 per oz.
Current resources at the Valentine project stand at 45.1 million tonnes at 1.85 g/t gold in the measured and indicated category for a total of 2.69 million oz. with additional inferred resources of 26.9 million tonnes at 1.77 g/t gold for 1.53 ounces; contained within four deposits. The Marathon deposit is host to 1.96 million oz. in the measured and indicated categories and 0.98 million oz. in the inferred category.
An updated resource for the project is expected in Q4 2019 to be followed by a preliminary feasibility study in Q2 2020.
(This article first appeared in the Canadian Mining Journal)