Golden Ridge Resources (TSXV: GLDN) recently completed its 2023 Phase 2 drilling campaign at the Williams gold property located within the Appleton and Dog Bay fault corridors. The campaign follows phase two drilling in 2022, in which the company reported achieving a maximum gram-metre interval at the Williams property, with an 86-metre interval grading 1.00 g/t gold.
Mike Blady, director, CEO and president of Golden Ridge, commented in a press release: “It is very exciting to drill 86 grams of gold in our first reported Phase 2 drill hole. Highlighted in WIL-23-30 The intercepts shown represent the highest gram-metre intercepts at Williams to date. Drilling has now confirmed at least five distinct zones of mineralization at Williams, all of which remain open along strike and at depth. In section The increasing alteration and veining observed across the 41 holes in Phase II strongly demonstrates our commitment to realizing the full potential of this property.”
Phase 2 drilling in 2023, initially focused on WIL-22-12, exposed a complex network of veins and veinlets and returned a significant interval of 37.93 meters grading 0.68 g/t gold. The area, now known as the Cottage Zone Extension (CZE), extends northeast of the original “Cottage Zone,” a gold-soil anomaly that stretches for more than a kilometer. The expansion completed a total of six holes (WIL-23-30 to WIL-23-35) with a total length of 1,029 meters. Each hole was intersected by an extensive alteration halo and vein/vein system similar to that observed in the original Phase 1 drilling.
Notably, hole WIL-23-30 intersected an 86-metre intercept grading 1 g/t gold, including a 2-metre intercept grading 9.21 g/t gold. Drilling also exposed several graphite-related fault/debris zones, indicating possible post-mineralization movement. Mineralization in the Cabin zone extension remains open for exploration.
The 2023 drill program at the Williams Gold Mine includes a total of 41 holes totaling 5,982 metres. This brings the total number of drill holes in Golden Ridge Phases 1 and 2 to 70, with a total length of 10,182 metres. The company is still awaiting the results of remaining analyzes for the 2023 program. The drilling targeted areas between 100m and 200m depth and focused on anomalies identified during previous exploration. Previous Gold Ridge field programs conducted between 2020 and 2022 have returned significant float samples with gold levels up to 281 g/t and soil samples with gold levels of 1,503 ppb.
Phase 2 drilling traversed an extensive mineralized zone characterized by a complex system of veins, veinlets and vein breccias, some up to 1.5 meters long. Gold-bearing veins are frequently associated with sericite and chlorite alteration. Sulfide mineralization is more common in the second phase core, with the host rock containing disseminated pyrite, arsenopyrite adjacent to the mineralized zone, and trace amounts of pyrrhotite in the heavily mineralized zone. Gold veins contain primarily pyrite and are associated with arsenopyrite, pyrrhotite, chalcopyrite, and galena.
Gold Ridge is analyzing the structural controls that influence the transport and deposition of gold-bearing fluids at the Williams Mine. The vein system indicates transitional tectonic environments with brittle and ductile characteristics. The company focuses on fracture filling as the primary mode of vein deposition, indicating the presence of a transtensional environment. Distinguishing gold-bearing veins requires establishing associations with sericite-chlorite alteration and arsenopyrite.
