New Found Gold (TSXV: NFG, NYSE-AM: NFGC) has added vertical dimension to the new Iceberg discovery at its 100%-owned Queensway project in Newfoundland with a high-grade intercept of 49.7 grams gold per tonne over 29.9 metres drilled below the discovery holes.
Shares of New Found Gold soared nearly 17% by market close Monday following the news. The company has a market capitalization of $998 million.
On Mar. 1, New Found Gold announced the discovery of Iceberg, a high-grade surface zone located 300 metres northeast of the Keats Main zone. According to the company, this discovery has a similar orientation to Keats Main and is comprised of a multitude of intersecting veins concentrating high-grade gold mineralization.
Drilling collared into the mineralization yielded 15.3 grams gold over 10.8 metres, while two 25-metre step-out holes intersected 72.2 grams gold over 9.7 metres and 19.7 grams gold over 5.7 metres, respectively. All three intercepts were shallow, occurring at depths of less than 30 metres from surface.
The new diamond drill hole (NFGC-23-1120), which also yielded 14.6 grams gold over 3.8 metres, was completed as part of NFG's follow-up program at the Iceberg discovery. It represents a 25-metre stepdown below the fence of the three discovery holes.
Starting at 35 metres from surface, NFGC-23-1120 exhibits a nearly continuous 40-metre drilled mineralized interval. High-grade gold mineralization is well distributed throughout the intercept with 19 samples registering over 10 grams gold and nine samples grading above 50 grams gold.
According to the Vancouver-based miner, the characteristics of mineralization remain consistent with those seen at Keats Main, further supporting the interpretation that Iceberg is hosted by the Keats-Baseline fault zone (KBFZ) and is likely the eastern extension of Keats Main that has been displaced by faulting.
"Like Keats, Iceberg is shallowly located and demonstrates strong quartz veining over significant widths. Drilling is ongoing at Iceberg with a focus on both expansion of this new discovery and exploring along strike within the projection of the highly prospective KBFZ in search of additional near-surface high-grade gold mineralization," Greg Matheson, COO of New Found Gold, commented.
The company is currently in the midst of a 500,000-metre drill program at the pre-resource Queensway project, located 15 km west of Gander, Nfld. Approximately 53,000 metres of core are currently pending assay results.