Australia’s Nova Minerals Limited (ASX: NVA) (OTC: NVAAF) unearthed the highest-grade rock chip sample of all time at its Estelle gold project in Alaska.
The company announced the discovery on Monday from the project’s Shoeshine prospect area. It contained 1,290 g/t gold and significant quantities of silver (591 g/t), copper (1 per cent) and antimony (0.9 per cent). The project is situated about 100 kilometres northwest of Anchorage.
Nova says the rock sample’s grades indicate the presence of abundant antimony-enriched style gold mineralization at the site. The Estelle project has an 80-person camp, a sample processing facility and a 4,000-foot airstrip at its base. The company is aiming to have its first gold pour there in late 2027.
“It’s exciting to report the highest gold grade sample assay ever returned from Estelle at 1,290 g/t Au, which is world-class by any measure,” said Christopher Gerteisen, CEO of Nova Minerals.
“All the right pieces to a discovery are here: consistent high-grade soils over 1 kilometre in strike length, tightly stacked sheeted veins, and high-grade bonanza zones,” added Nova’s Head of Exploration, Hans Hoffman.
Location of samples taken from the Estelle project’s Shoeshine prospect area. Photo via Nova Minerals
Read more: Calibre Mining reports record year-to-date earnings in Q3 financials
Estelle contains 3.4 million measured and indicated gold ounces
Nova has spent over US$30 million on its exploration and development work in Alaska over the past two and a half years.
The company is also actively involved with lithium exploration and holds a 37 per cent stake in the Manitoba-focused battery metal company Snow Lake Resources Ltd (NASDAQ: LITM).
Nova has an 8.76 per cent stake in Western Australia’s rare earth and gold mining company Asra Minerals (ASX: ASR) as well.
Historically, Alaska has produced approximately 1.5 per cent of the world’s gold. The state has generated over 33 million ounces of the yellow metal.
Canada’s Fraser Institute ranked Alaska as the fourth most attractive state to invest in last year for mining. Nevada, Colorado and Arizona were the top three, respectively.
In 2021, the mining industry provided state residents with about 5,400 jobs.
Top gold mining companies operating in Alaska include Kenorland Minerals (TSX-V: KLD) (OTCQX: KLDCF), Western Alaska Minerals (TSX-V: WAM) and HighGold Mining Inc (TSX-V: HIGH) (OTCQX: HGMIF).
rowan@mugglehead.com
