i-80 GOLD CORP.’s (TSX:IAU) (NYSE:IAUX) ongoing 2023 underground drill program returned high grade gold from its Granite Creek Property located in Humboldt County, Nevada.
The company said on Thursday that the goal of its 2023 drilling campaign was to expand the mineral reserves in the South Pacific Zone (SPZ) and upgrade part of the deposit to Measured and Indicated resource status.
The SPZ is located immediately north of the Ogee Zone and the current mine. The company has scheduled it to become the primary mining area in 2024. They plan to mine the initial sections during the first half of 2024, following the extension of the mine to provide access.
The Granite Creek Property is close to Nevada Gold Mines’ Turquoise Ridge and Twin Creeks mines. Both are located at the northern end of the Battle Mountain-Eureka Trend where it intersects with the belt owned by Getchell Gold Corp. (CSE: GTCH) (OTCQB: GGLDF) (FWB: GGA1).
The mineralization found shares an almost identical geological setting as the multi-million-ounce Turquoise Ridge Mine. This setting is in proximity to a major regional fault known as the Getchell or Range Front fault, situated on the eastern edge of the expansive Osgood Mountains intrusive complex.
Highlight results from new underground drilling in the South Pacific Zone at Granite Creek include:
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GCPU23-19: 16.9 g/t Au over 5.7 m
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GCPU23-20: 37.7 g/t Au over 7.6 m
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GCPU23-21: 19.2 g/t Au over 4.3 m
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GCPU23-22: 31.1 g/t Au over 21.9 m
The upper part of the deposit is the main focus of underground drilling. Simultaneously, surface drilling is actively exploring the northern extension, which has recently uncovered high-grade mineralization, including intervals of up to 15.5 g/t Au over 19.7 m in iGS23-05.

Property location map for i-80’s Nevada property. Image via i-80 Gold.
Read more: Calibre Mining expands high-grade gold mineralization zones within Limon mine complex
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The Battle-Mountain Eureka Trend is one of best gold-bearing jurisdictions
The Battle Mountain-Eureka trend is one of the best gold bearing jurisdictions in the world.
Pulling results like i-80’s out of the ground is a fairly common occurrence. This underscores the rarity of these types of results in other jurisdictions. Only a few places in the world are known for hosting such high-quality grades.
i-80’s neighbour, Nevada Gold Mines, a joint venture between Barrick Gold (TSX: ABX) (NYSE: GOLD) and Newmont Corporation (NYSE: NEM) (TSX: NGT), recently expanded its total amounts of ounces mined per year by 130,000. It accomplished this by adding starting operations at its Goldrush mine earlier this week.
Earlier this year, Calibre Mining (TSX: CXB) (OTCQX: CXBMF) achieved its fourth consecutive record in consolidated quarterly gold production, reaching 73,485 ounces. This marked a 50 per cent increase in gold production compared to the same period in 2022, when production totalled 49,081 ounces.
These performances are split between Nicaragua with 63,756 ounces of gold, and Nevada with 9,729 ounces.
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