Special Report: Hawkstone’s maiden drilling program has firmly established the presence of high-grade gold at its Lone Pine project in Idaho.
Top hits from the first seven holes include 1.22m grading 17.02 grams per tonne (g/t) gold, 0.45m at 19.6g/t gold and 2.63m at 7.06g/t gold while shallow trenching returned high-grades including 9.38g/t gold over 1.83m and 20.32g/t over 0.91m.
Hawkstone Mining (ASX:HWK) said drilling, mapping and trenching to date had demonstrated the excellent geological continuity of the quartz vein zone and that gold mineralisation had now been traced over 600m and remained open to the northeast and southwest along strike.
Managing director Paul Lloyd said the company was pleased with the initial results and while drilling and recovery problems were encountered in the earlier holes, recoveries have improved since it mobilised the larger rig in early August.
“Our geological team are on a steep learning curve as this is the first drilling program on this project,” he added.
“I am confident that the acquired knowledge will greatly assist with this program and our regional ambitions in the Lone Pine area, that is proving to be highly mineralised and demonstrating significant upside potential.”
More gold drilling to come
Over the coming weeks, drilling will continue below four of the initial holes southwest along strike to provide better information on geology and grade.
Assays from the eighth hole have also been dispatched to the lab.
Lone Pine was acquired by Hawkstone in February and has a non-JORC resource of 71,178oz of gold grading over 18g/t gold.
Results to date look set to bring this resource up to JORC standards – a must-have for ASX-listed explorers.
The company has also completed the purchase of the historical King Solomon gold mine that borders Lone Pine.
Both projects are believed to be part of the same mineralised/alteration system, which Hawkstone says provides it with a significant opportunity.
This article was developed in collaboration with Hawkstone Mining, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.
This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.