Premier Gold Mines (TSX: PG; US-OTC: PIRGF) has announced the results of exploration work done at the company's wholly owned Hasaga project, situated in the Red Lake gold district of northwestern Ontario.
Hasaga, located contiguous to Pure Gold Mining's (TSXV: PGM; LSE: PUR) Madsen project, is host to three past-producing mines, Hasaga, Buffalo and Goldshore.
The company earmarked $4 million for 25,000 metres of exploration and initial delineation drilling this year. The drill campaign is collecting data for an updated mineral resource estimate for the project.
Two zones of the project, Epp-C and Epp-D, are priority targets, which the company believes have the potential to be "the next generation of mineral resources with highly attractive attributes for potential mine development."
Premier said this year's delineation work done at Hasaga has seen 18 holes and 18,000 metres drilled in all target areas.
Highlights from the 2020 exploration include extending the Epp-C zone by 150 metres to the west, with drill hole HMP192 returning 13 metres of 12.05 grams gold per tonne contained within a larger intercept of 39 metres of 4.93 grams gold starting from 710 metres downhole. Further exploration extended the eastern side of the Epp-C zone by another 60 metres, with drill hole HMP185W2 returning 4 metres of 9.23 grams gold per tonne contained within a broader interval of 10 metres grading 4.71 grams gold from 905 metres.
According to the company, the Epp-D zone is wide open laterally and at depth. Other highlights include 14 metres of 6.04 grams gold per tonne contained within a larger interval of 46 metres of 2.11 grams gold, starting from 1129 metres downhole in HMP186-W1.
"This drilling campaign is confirming the considerable potential of this property, located in the heart of one of the world's most respected high-grade gold camps," Stephen McGibbon, Premier's executive vice-president said in a press release. "All target areas remain open for expansion."
McGibbon also said the results from exploration work suggests, "the core of the Epp-C zone may grow substantially."
Hasaga's mineral resource estimate is 42.3 million tonnes grading 0.83 grams gold per tonne for 1.1 million oz. indicated gold. The inferred resource estimate is 25.1 million tonnes grading 0.78 grams gold per tonne for 631,000 oz. gold.
Premier says Hasaga has the potential to be mined as an open pit. However, this year's drill campaign hopes to add higher-grade resources that could potentially be mined underground. The company has also conducted initial drilling further west of the main targets, in an area that remains significantly underexplored, though results are still pending.
At press time, Premier Gold Mines was trading at $2.78 per share within a 52-week range of 85 ? and $3.04. The company has 237 million common shares outstanding and a $659.7 million market capitalization.