Step-out drilling at Marathon Gold\u2019s Valentine gold project in Canada’s Newfoundland province has extended the Berry zone to the northeast, to a drill-tested strike of 450 metres.<\/p>\n
The company\u2019s latest release includes the assays from 10 holes completed at the Berry area, which sits within a 6-km-long Sprite corridor between the Leprechaun and Marathon deposits at the site.<\/p>\n
Highlights include 120 metres of 3.33 g\/t gold starting at 87 metres, 36 metres of 3.37 g\/t gold from 107 metres as well as 32 metres of 2.33 g\/t gold starting at 67 metres.<\/p>\n Midday Wednesday, Marathon\u2019s stock was up 7.7% on the TSX<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n \u201cOur 2020 exploration program is focused on new discovery, with broad step-out drilling into areas previously untested,\u201d Matt Manson, the company\u2019s president and CEO said in a release.<\/p>\n Manson added that the company\u2019s 32,000-metre drill program is scheduled to cover a 3-km-long strike, extending from the Berry zone, through the Frozen Ear Pond Road area and to the limit of the Marathon deposit, which is open to the southwest.<\/p>\n All 10 holes returned gold grades in excess of 0.3 g\/t \u2013 the open-pit cut-off grade used in the latest resource estimate for the project; nine holes included intersections over 0.7 g\/t gold.<\/p>\n According to the company, the principal style of mineralization at Berry is within a 30- to 100-metre-wide interval, extends from surface down to a depth of 250 metres, and remains open at depth. Drill data available to date suggests a 450-metre-long strike for the Berry zone mineralization.<\/p>\n The Valentine project features four shear-zone hosted gold deposits within a 20-km long trend. Measured and indicated resources at the site total 54.9 million tonnes at 1.75 g\/t gold for a total of 3.1 million oz. with additional inferred resources of 16.8 million tonnes at 1.78 g\/t for a further 1 million oz. These resources include both an open-pit and underground component; the former is estimated using a 0.3 g\/t gold cut-off and the latter estimated using a 1.66 g\/t gold cut-off grade.<\/p>\n In April, Marathon released a prefeasibility study for Valentine, which outlined a 12-year open pit and conventional milling operation producing an average of 175,000 oz. of gold annually in the first nine years of operation. <\/p>\n With an initial capital cost of C$272 million and average life-of-mine, all-in sustaining costs of $739 per oz., the net present value of the project, at a 5% discount rate, is estimated at C$472 million, based on a $1,350 per oz. gold price, with a 36% internal rate of return.<\/p>\n A feasibility study for the project is expected next year.<\/p>\n Midday Wednesday, Marathon\u2019s stock was up 7.7% on the TSX. The company has a C$453 million market capitalization.<\/p>\n\n