BC-focused explorer Ascot Resources (TSX: AOT) on Friday reported the third batch of assay results from its 2023 drill program at the Premier gold project, focusing on the Big Missouri deposit located approximately 6 kilometres north of the Premier mill.
The company’s focus is to restart the processing plant at Premier, at one point was named North America’s largest gold mine. The project houses three deposits – Silver Coin, Big Missouri and Premier – situated near the processing facility of the historic mine.
Underground mine development commenced at Big Missouri in 2022, and crews are currently mining and stockpiling mineralized material as development advances.
In addition to mining these deposits, Ascot is also conducting drilling on a number of precious metals discoveries on its 25,000 hectares of mineral concessions, all located within the Golden Triangle of northwestern British Columbia.
Drilling for the 2023 exploration season at the Big Missouri deposit was conducted from early August until this past week, during which time 72 holes were drilled from surface for a total of 6,539 metres.
Headlining the new assays is the highest-grade intercept from drilling the entire property since 2015: 691.5 g/t gold over 0.9 metre, contained within an interval of 98.84 g/t gold over 6.48 metres from a depth of 51.5 metres. It also represents the all-time second highest-grade drill intercept at Big Missouri.
Also included in the results are: 22.3 g/t gold over 9.72 metres from a depth of 58.3 metres, including 98.1 g/t gold over 1.91 metres; and 17.72 g/t gold over 5.65 metres from a depth of 21.4 metres, including 31.9 g/t gold over 1.6 metres.
“With underground mine development at Big Missouri having started last year, this is an opportune time to have intercepted some of the highest-grade gold mineralization in Ascot’s history,” said Derek White, president and CEO of Ascot, in a press release.
“In particular, the 692 gram-per-tonne intercept from hole P23-2490 is located in an area currently scheduled to be mined next year, and as such we are eager to exploit this material early in the mine life,” White noted.
Shares of Ascot surged 9.2% by 12:30 p.m. EDT on the new assay results. The Vancouver-based company has a market capitalization of C$228.7 million ($167.3 million).
