White Gold Corp. (WGO:TSX.V; WHGOF:OTCQX; 29W:FRA) is looking for gold in places where it has already been found in large quantities, and the search is paying off. Through systematic exploration utilizing a scientific, data-driven, highly effective, and low-cost exploration strategy developed by co-founder and Chief Technical Advisor Shawn Ryan, the Company has discovered several other high-grade gold discoveries in addition to already defined gold resources at the Golden Saddle, Arc, and VG deposits owned by the company.
These "new, exciting discoveries" include the Betty property, which intercepted 3.46 g/t Au over 50m on its maiden diamond drilling program this year, and the Ryan’s Surprise/Ulli’s Ridge area located just 2km west of the Golden Saddle intercepted 10.36 g/t Au over 3.25m, 1.66 g/t Au over 25.50m, and 1.35 g/t Au over 21.33m, amongst other impressive hits this year following up on this recently discovered high-grade zone. White Gold CEO and Director D'Onofrio says the company also has many other exciting new and never before drilled targets that it is preparing for maiden drill programs.
"This diamond drilling program is a great start to hopefully leading to the Yukon's next big discovery."
—White Gold Corp. CEO and Director David D'Onofrio
White Gold is a gold exploration firm headquartered in Toronto, Ont., that operates solely in the White Gold District of Yukon, Canada. The region has historically produced over 20 Moz placer gold since the first gold rush there in 1896. The district has undergone a renaissance since around 2010 when several large hard rock gold discoveries were made in the area.
As drill assays from the 2021 fully funded exploration program have begun to roll in, White Gold Corp. has released a slew of positive drill results in the past month. On Nov. 1, 2021, the company reported that it intersected several new zones of significant gold mineralization at the Ulli's Ridge Target located about 3 km southwest of the Golden Saddle and Arc deposits. The rotary air blast (RAB) drilling program was comprised of 11 holes totaling 937m, with 8 holes drilled at the Ulli's Ridge target and three holes at the Minneapolis Creek target. Highlights of this drill program include 1.35 g/t Au over 21.33m, 4.67 g/t Au over 6.10m, and 9.01 g/t Au over 3.05m. The company followed up the encouraging RAB drilling results with a subsequent diamond drilling program late in the season, assays of which are still pending as of the time of this publication.
On Nov. 8, 2021 the Company announced results from the 2021 diamond drill program at Ryan’s Surprise, which is located just 2km west of the Golden Saddle and Arc and less than 1km north of Ulli’s Ridge.
This program was designed to follow up and test extents of high-grade mineralization that occurred in previous seasons of 20.64 g/t Au over 6.09m (2018), 17.40 g/t Au over 3.47m (2020), 10.96 g/t Au over 3.76m (2020), and 8.69 g/t Au over 12.30m (2020). The 2021 program encountered additional significant gold mineralization, further expanding the known mineralization footprint at Ryan’s. Notable highlights include 10.36 g/t Au over 3.25m, 3.66 g/t Au over 6m and 1.66 g/t Au over 25.50m. Interpretation based on these results indicates a 400m by 400m mineralization area down to a vertical depth of 450m and remains open along strike and down-dip.
D'Onofrio told Streetwise that the Ryan’s Surprise and Ulli’s Ridge targets hold significant strategic importance to White Gold and its projects. The targets are located on a 6.5km long gold in soil anomaly uncovered through Ryan's exploration techniques and are also located proximal to the Golden Saddle and Arc deposits, which already have a combined resource of 1.54 Moz. The encountered mineralization at Ryan’s and Ulli’s offer the significant potential to increase the overall resource base of the Company’s on the White Gold property, "further bolstering the economic attractiveness of that project," he explained.
Increase in Inferred Resources Bolsters 'Economic Attractiveness'
On Nov. 11, 2021, White Gold announced an increase in the Inferred resources at its VG Deposit by 16% to 267,600 oz Au at 1.62 g/t, and it remains open in multiple directions. The company advised that the QV property lies host to several other prospective targets known as the Stewart, Tetra, and Shadow zones, which have undergone only limited exploration work but provide potential for future discoveries. Opportunities also exist to further expand mineralization at depth and along strike, as well as to upgrade a significant portion of Inferred Resources to Indicated. Located approximately 11km north of the Golden Saddle and Arc deposits, the VG deposit has the potential to be combined into one larger project with Golden Saddle and Arc due to similar gold mineralization and proximity. With this most recent resource estimate, the Company’s overall resource base sits at just over 1.8 Moz gold across all categories.
White Gold's most recent announcement may be the most exciting of all. On November 17, 2021, the company reported that its maiden diamond drill program intersected broad zones of significant near surface gold mineralization at its Betty Ford Target including 50m of 3.46 g/t Au and 48m of 1.17 g/t Au. Ryan stated this type of gold grade and intensity reminded him of the Golden Saddle and Coffee deposits, both of which are world-class high-grade multi-million-ounce gold discoveries today. The company highlighted that the Betty Ford target is just one of five targets at its wholly owned Betty property located approximately 40 km east of Newmont Corp.'s (NEM:NYSE) Coffee gold deposit, which hosts 2.14 Moz Au Indicated and 0.23 Moz Au Inferred, and just 15 km to the northeast of Western Copper and Gold Corp.'s (WRN:TSX; WRN:NYSE.MKT) Casino porphyry deposit containing an estimated resource of 14.5 Moz Au and 7.6 Blb Cu Measured & Indicated and 6.6 Moz Au and 3.3 Blb Cu Inferred.
The firm explained that the Betty property is located on the eastern extension of the Coffee Creek Fault, a large regional fault that structurally is both Newmont Mining's Coffee deposit and Western Copper and Gold’s Casino deposit. It is important to note that Ryan is credited with originally discovering the Coffee Deposit. Way back in 2010, Ryan had staked out what he said were two key intersecting regional structures, the Dip Creek fault (NE) and the prospective Coffee Creek fault (EW). Ryan noted that since then, the company has completed a systematic soil sampling program that has identified a large property-scale mineralized gold system. The report mentioned that this is the same methodology employed by Ryan that led to the discovery of both the Coffee and Golden Saddle deposits.
Ryan further commented, "This diamond drilling program is a great start to hopefully leading to the Yukon's next big discovery."
The company stated that the first phase of its 2021 diamond drill program focused on two of five targets identified at the Betty property and that it plans to test the three other targets in 2022 in addition to following up on the 2021 results.
D'Onofrio remarked, "We are very excited by the results from our maiden diamond drill program on the Betty Ford target. … Hole 3 ranks amongst the best holes drilled in the district, including at our flagship Golden Saddle deposit, and has considerably extended the recently discovered broad zone of near-surface gold mineralization, while encountering significantly higher-grade gold mineralization and remains open along strike."
WGO's Unique Techniques Make for Quick, Safe Exploration
One thing that makes the company so unique is the way in which it conducts its exploration work. Ryan has been prospecting for gold in the region for more than 20 years. He has developed his proprietary "Drones to Drills" methodology that incorporates historic data, unique deeper soil sampling methods, and advanced LIDAR surveys. Having never been glaciated, the Yukon is ideal for soil sampling as surface soil anomalies often coincide with hard-rock gold mineralization. Shawn has compiled a soil sampling database of more than 400,000 soils, one of if not the largest soil sampling databases in the world. With consistent sampling procedure guidelines and protocols across all the soil samples, this database allows him to effectively identify areas of potential gold mineralization.
This process allows the company to explore a large area in a very quick, safe, and economical manner. Once a target is identified through this scientific, data-driven soil sampling process, the company often employs efficient, lower-cost rotary air blast (RAB) drilling at its White Gold District projects along with follow-up RC or diamond drilling as appropriate to verify ore grades and width. The RAB drills serve as a cost and time-efficient, first-pass test of prospective targets to allow the Company to more efficiently test the numerous targets hosted on White Gold’s district-scale property package. Furthermore, RAB drilling does not require water and is more environmentally friendly than its diamond drilling alternative.
This article is part two of a two-part series. You can read the first part here.
Disclosure:
1) Stephen Hytha compiled this article for Streetwise Reports LLC and provides services to Streetwise Reports as an independent contractor. He or members of his household own securities of the following companies mentioned in the article: None. He or members of his household are paid by the following companies mentioned in this article: None.
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