Pure Gold Mining hopes to add some longevity to its new Red Lake mine, currently under construction, with an extensive exploration program this year.
The Vancouver company has kicked off a more than 30,000-metre diamond drilling campaign to fill in the gaps of its mine plan, build gold reserves, and expand some new discoveries on its property.
The program of both underground and surface drilling will continue into 2021.
The company recently raised more than $27 million in financing for exploration on its 47-square-kilometre holdings, southwest of the town of Red Lake.
“We believe strongly in the organic growth potential of our Pure Gold Red Lake Mine property," said company president-CEO Darin Labrenz in a June 4 news release.
"And we are confident that the mine plan outlined in our feasibility study is scalable and has the potential to expand."
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Underground drilling at the mine project started June 4. Drilling will focus on areas targeted for the first two years of production.
Surface drilling will track new gold discoveries found along a more than 7-kilometre long gold corridor. Two drill rigs will be deployed in July to commence work in a part of the property called the Wedge.
"Our drill program has been designed with the goal of: increasing indicated mineral resources through infill drilling, with potential to convert to future reserves; expand our gold resources through step-out drilling and make new high-grade discoveries through regional exploration," added Labrenz.
"While we remain completely focused on our fully-funded mine construction and ramp up, we strongly believe in the potential for our mineral reserves and mine production to grow, and our new program is designed to start building our future growth today.”
The company is particularly excited to do follow-up drilling on a high-grade area known as the 8 Zone. Previous work there showed an average gold grade of 20.5 grams per tonne. The company believes the 8 Zone and other zones "provide the opportunity for explosive transformative growth" at the mine.
A feasibility study released by Pure Gold last year pegged a 12-year mine life on the project. The property hosts two historic high-grade mines, the Madsen and the Starrett-Olsen.
