GFG Resources, a Canadian precious metals exploration company, and its partner Newcrest Resources have started a 3,000m drilling program at the Rattlesnake Hills Gold Project in Wyoming, US.
Image: Australian gold producer Newcrest and GFG begin 2018 drilling program at Rattlesnake Hills Gold Project. Photo: courtesy of Dan Brown.
Located in Central Wyoming about 100km southwest of Casper in Natrona County, the Rattlesnake Hills Gold Project is made up of 1,573 unpatented lode mining claims along with eight Wyoming State mining leases.
Spread over an area of around 30,400 acres, the gold mining project almost completely encompasses the Rattlesnake Hills Gold District.
Four significant zones of alteration and precious metal mineralization have been identified so far within the Rattlesnake Hills Gold Project that are associated with Eocene age alkalic intrusions at North Stock, Antelope Basin, Blackjack and South Stock.
The funding of the drilling program at the Rattlesnake Hills Gold Project will be covered entirely by Newcrest Resources, a subsidiary of Australia-based Newcrest Mining, through an option and earn-in agreement it had signed last month.
As per the agreement made in September, Newcrest Mining has the right to acquire, in various stages, a stake of up to 75% of the Rattlesnake Hills Gold Project by completing a number of exploration and development expenditures and making staged option cash payments to GFG Resources.
According to GFG Resources, the drill program will involve two drill rigs and will focus on testing deep gold porphyry targets located near the North Stock deposit.
Drilling will be carried on till the end of November 2018 with a second phase drill program slated to take place during the second half of 2019.
GFG Resources said that the goal of the 2018 drill program at the Rattlesnake Hills Gold Project will be to test the concept that a bulk-tonnage, porphyry-style system may be essential for the shallower, diatreme-hosted gold mineralization at the North Stock deposit.
GFG Resources president and CEO Brian Skanderbeg said: “This year’s drill program will include holes up to 1,500 metres in length focused on a porphyry environment where historic drilling successfully intersected high grade gold mineralization over meaningful widths.
“Newcrest brings world class technical expertise in porphyry-style systems and we are excited to work with them to work towards making a significant discovery. Results from the program are expected to be available in the first quarter of 2019.”