Drillers for Argonaut Gold keeping intersecting high-grade gold in and around where contractors are carving out an open-pit gold mine.
The Toronto mine developer released recent drill results from an infill drilling program at its Elbow Zone, which is beneath the proposed Magino pit, at a depth of 500 metres and 100 metres.
One drill hole yielded a return of 6.1 grams per tonne (g/t) gold over 16.0 metres of core and another showing 8.8 g/t over a core length of 7.0 metres.
Exploration drilling is continuing even as Argonaut's contractors are carving out an open-pit mine slated for a first gold pour in early 2023. The drillers have intersecting high-grade gold in six areas at the bottom, beneath and near the proposed pit, suggesting the potential for an underground mine at some point.
The company also continues to find high-grade gold in a 1.5-kilometre area between Magino and Alamos Gold's Island Gold Mine.
"When we first began exploring for high-grade gold mineralization at depth at Magino," said company president Pete Dougherty in a statement, "we quickly become aware of the structural control of the high-grade mineralization which led to the discovery of six distinct zones: Elbow, Central, Scotland, #42, Sandy and South.
"Now that widely spaced drilling has discovered high-grade gold mineralization in each of these targets, we recently moved four drill rigs back to the Elbow Zone to begin more systematic early-stage resource definition drilling program and have been very pleased with both the continuity and grade profile of these results."
Magino was a former underground mine of the same name, developed after the First World War. Over a projected 17-year mine life, the new Magino Mine is expected to produce approximately 2.2 million ounces of gold. The mine project sits 14 kilometres southeast of Dubreuilville. Much of the 2,200-hectare property still remains unexplored by modern means.
"The early-stage resource definition drilling program continues to yield positive results with several high-grade gold intercepts at widths typically amenable to underground mining methods," said Brian Arkell, Argonaut's exploration vice president.
"I'm also very encouraged by the continuity of the gold mineralization we are seeing within the Elbow Zone, and we are excited to continue to test this important target."
Magino is Toronto-based Argonaut's only Canadian gold asset. Its primary assets are the El Castillo and San Agustin Mines in Durango, Mexico, the La Colorada Mine in Sonora, Mexico and the Florida Canyon Mine in Nevada.
