US producing gold miner Fortitude Gold [OTCQB:FTCO], which is also involved in further exploration of the properties it holds in Nevada, has just published multiple high grade surface sample results for its Ripper property. The site is located in the Churchill and Pershing counties in Nevada.
The OTC-traded Fortitude Gold is already noted as a cash-rich miner with a producing mine already at Isabella Pearl, and a high dividend yield that continues to attract investors to the stock. It is looking to build on its already successful base with the exploration of a number of additional properties it currently owns.
The high grade surface samples ranged from 2.11 g/t all the way up to 8.44 g/t. Assays were carried out by Bureau Veritas Mineral Laboratories in Nevada. The results are considered good enough to warrant not only further exploration but also a drill program which Fortitude said would be scheduled for next year.
Fortitude Gold acquired a 100% interest in the Ripper property in June 2021. The property is close to Fortitude’s Walker Lane Mineral Belt properties and consists of 72 unpatented claims covering approximately 1,400 acres.
What does the geology look like at Ripper?
Known gold mineralisation at Ripper occurs in a Triassic package of limestones, limestone collapse breccias, and mudstones of the Auld Lang Syne group. Three principal types of alteration carrying gold values include quartz veining within limestone beds, mudstone breccia with a quartz-calcite cement or en echelon quartz veins, and variably silicified and hematitic limestone collapse breccias including local jasperoidization.
Fortitude Gold completed its first mapping and sampling program at Ripper in July 2022, which included detailed lithological, structural and alteration characterisation in the property’s Hughes Canyon target area. This program focused on two areas, the Hughes Canyon southwest and northwest target areas.
Select one-foot-long samples were collected at five-foot intervals along a silicified contact, which resulted in 148 surface rock samples. The Hughes Canyon northeast target area returned assays of 2.45 g/t gold over a 21-meter interval.
“We are excited with Ripper returning high-grade gold in this first round of surface sampling,” said Barry Devlin, Vice President of Exploration for Fortitude Gold. “The property is early-stage exploration with limited historic data. The significant gold mineralization at surface above one gram per tonne gold and as high as 8.4 grams per tonne gold not only warrants a second round of surface sampling, but a first drill program targeted in 2023.”
Fortitude Gold is already engaged in drilling at the Golden Mile property in Mineral County, Nevada. Earlier this month it announced high-grade intercepts at Golden Mile that included 3.05 meters grading 16.80 grams per tonne (g/t) gold within 12.19 meters grading 4.86 g/t gold.
