9 RC holes for 1,200m are planned at the project. Pic: via Getty Images.
Surrounded by tier 1 gold mines, Devil’s Canyon is being drilled for the first time since the 80’s
Mining
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- This will be the first drilling at the project since the late 1980’s
- Targets are high-grade gold-copper-silver anomalies from 2020 rock chip sampling
- Devils Canyon’s neighbours include the Bald Hill and Ruby Hill gold mines
Diablo Resources has started a 9 hole, 1,200m drilling program at its exciting Devil’s Canyon gold-copper project, located in the Carlin trend which has produced more than 195Moz of gold.
Devil’s Canyon rubs shoulders with some big North American gold projects.
The ground sits 20km west of Kinross Gold’s Bald Mountain gold mine, which produced 215,000oz in 2022 at $US972/oz, and 40km north of Barrick Gold’s Ruby Hill gold mine.
And yet will be the first time the project has been drilled since the late 1980’s, when several shallow RC holes returned encouraging results.
Due to incomplete data although the location, depth and downhill interval of these historical hits are unclear.
It also appears that the samples were not analysed for other elements, including copper and silver.
First drilling since the late 80s at Devil’s Canyon
“We are excited to commence our maiden drill program at Devils Canyon targeting significant gold-copper-silver anomalism generated from surface geochemical sampling at a number of prospects including Southside, Eastside and Ridgeline,” Diablo Resources (ASX:DBO) CEO Lyle Thorne said.
“Mineralization is closely associated with the margins of a multiphase granitic stock occurring as skarns on or near limestone/sediment contacts.
“As the first drilling since the 1980’s, it will test the potential for gold-copper mineralisation at depth.”
Thorne added that track mounted RC rig being used for the drill program “significantly reduces required clearing, making it ideal for the terrain at Devils Canyon.”
Targeting high-grade surface anomalies
An initial 9 drill holes totalling 1,200m are planned from 6 pads to test the mineralisation identified by the rock chip sampling, coincident structural trends and magnetic highs interpreted to represent potentially mineralised skarn zones on/near granite contacts.
The targets include the Southside prospect where samples collected from a mineralised skarn traced over a strike length of 500m returned copper to 3.3% and gold to 3.1 g/t Au.
In 2020 Hawkstone Mining’s rock chip sampling returned Cu to 7.7%. Soil sampling in 2022 outlined a coherent Cu-Au-Ag geochemical anomaly associated with altered sediments near the granite contact27. This prospect is considered a priority drill target.
The drilling will also test the Eastside prospect, which flagged up to 12.9% copper, 271 g/t silver and 1.3 g/t gold and the Ridgeline prospect which returned 1.12-191.5 g/t gold, 22.1-524 g/t silver and 0.54-10.25% copper from Hawkstone’s sampling program.
Assays results in 8-9 weeks
Drilling is anticipated to take approximately 3 weeks to complete with results expected 4-6 weeks after completion.
The company will update the market as results become available.
This article was developed in collaboration with Diablo Resources, 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.
