Ardiden Ltd has launched into its latest round of drilling at the Kasagiminnis gold deposit in Canada. The company has dispatched internationally renowned contractor Major Drilling to the site with the rods now spinning under the watchful eye of Ardiden’s exploration manager, Dan Grabiec.
The Kasagiminnis gold deposit is the centrepiece of Ardiden’s Pickle Lake gold project in Northwest Ontario which covers more than 664 square kilometres of highly prospective Archean greenstone in the fertile Canadian shield.
Historical mining through the Pickle Lake region has produced more than 3 million ounces of high-grade gold, with prominent local operations including the Golden Patricia mine, which has produced over 600,000 ounces at an impressive grade of 15.2 g/t gold in the 1990s. The nearby Pickle Crow operations have also produced more than 1.5 million ounces of gold at 16 g/t gold.
Ardiden’s developing Kasagiminnis gold deposit is centrally located within its Canadian tenure and boasts a high-grade resource of 790,000 tonnes at 4.3 g/t gold, for 110,000 ounces.
The company’s current diamond drilling program is aimed at dramatically increasing this resource with the near-term goal being to increase the estimated endowment of the deposit to between 0.5 and 1.2 million ounces.
The first phase of the exploration program will utilise seven diamond drill holes to probe the western extensions of the deposit and will be followed by a further seven holes testing the depth extents of the mineralisation below Kasagiminnis as part of the Phase 2 program. Diamond drilling will test the deposit along more than 2km of strike and down to a depth of 500 metres.
The company is also evaluating several other targets surrounding the Kasagiminnis deposit. Recent geophysical surveys have highlighted a larger long gold trend that hosts Kasagiminnis and that extends along more than 5km of strike – this auriferous trend has yet to be tested utilising modern, systematic exploration.
Ardiden’s Managing Director, Rob Longley said:
“While drilling at Kasagiminnis is an important activity, we do not lose sight of the other 17 Deposits and Prospects identified so far across our massive landholding. These are all deserving of attention to ensure a strong Pipeline of Gold Projects at Pickle Lake over time, as the Company’s ground activities increase.”
With more than $4.5 million in the bank and drilling underway at Kasagiminnis, Ardiden has the bit between its teeth and looks set to drill well into the Canadian winter with its sights set on a new resource at the company’s flagship gold deposit later in the year.
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