As announced on January 16, 2014, the Company plans to submit an advanced exploration closure plan to complete a bulk sample from the Garrcon deposit of its wholly owned Garrison Gold Property.
Pending regulatory approval, the closure plan and related permits will allow the company to extract up to 150,000 tonnes from the Garrcon deposit. In the third quarter of 2014, the bulk sample stockpile will be toll milled.
The test mining should allow the Company to gather the data necessary to complete a pre-feasibility study of the deposit.
Pursuant to regulations in Part 2 and Part 8 of the Mine Rehabilitation Code of Ontario, Schedule 1, O.Reg.240/00, a geotechnical assessment for the Garrcon bulk sample pits was completed by Terrane Geoscience Inc. ("Terrane") of Halifax, Nova Scotia under the direction of Tony Gilman, P.Eng.
Utilizing geotechnical field mapping and two oriented diamond drill holes in addition to compressive strength testing, Terrane completed geotechnical analysis to design stable slopes for the Garrcon Bulk sample open pits.
The results of this analysis have given a slope that is considered safe with a bench face angle of 80° and overall slope angle of 66° for a total slope height of 15 m.
The two diamond drill holes were drilled within the boundary of the East and West bulk sample pit domains and showed assay results consistent with Northern Gold’s previous diamond drilling in the area. Each of the holes were 51m in length for a total of 102m.
GGT-13-01 was drilled north into the west pit domain in shallow overburden and interested gold mineralization within the pit domain. GGT-13-02 was drilled east into the east pit domain and intersected shallow overburden and significant gold mineralization in the upper 15m of the east pit domain.
Assay highlights from the drill holes include:
2.40 g/t Au over 12.0m (7.0m-19.0m) GGT-13-01
4.10 g/t Au over 17.0m (3.0-20.0m) GGT-13-02
The Garrcon deposit is hosted in Temiskaming Type metasediments along the footwall of the Destor-Porcupine Fault. Brittle stockwork veins and vein arrays form a network of gold mineralization within the metasedimentary host.
The deposit has a NI 43-101 compliant resource as announced on March 3, 2014 which contains a measured and indicated resource of 1.05 million ounces at 1.12 grams per tonne and an inferred mineral resource of 616,000 ounces at 2.80 grams per tonne.
Martin Shefsky, Interim President and CEO of Northern Gold, commented: "The various studies and permits to complete the bulk sample are progressing well. The geotechnical drill holes show a combination of shallow overburden, high rock strength and significant assays which support our plans to mine the Garrcon bulk sample from those locations."
The Company also announces that it has now completed a 2.45 km hydro line to connect the Jonpol site to the Hydro One electrical network in Northern Ontario. The single phase hydro line was connected to the existing line supplying Wahgoshig First Nation west of the Jonpol site.
The hydro line has a projected payback of two and a half years versus diesel power generation as the primary power supply and based on current electrical consumption at the Company’s exploration office, core shack and maintenance buildings; it is expected to reduce electricity costs by approximately $6,000/month as well as significantly reduce the operation’s carbon footprint. The hydro line was connected to the electrical grid on March 19, 2014.
Martin Shefsky, Interim President and CEO of Northern Gold, commented: "The completion of the hydro line to the Jonpol site demonstrates our commitments to both reduce operating costs and provide value for our exploration expenses."
The technical aspects of this press release have been reviewed and approved by Michael Gross, M.Sc., P.Geo. the "Qualified Person" as defined by National Instrument 43-101 for the Golden Bear Project.
