May 6, 2022
Japan Gold Corp. (TSXV:JG, BUY, C$1.00 target, Timothy Lee) has commenced its 2022 exploration programs with initial drilling at the Ryuo prospect at its 100%-owned Ikutahara project in Hokkaido, Japan. At Ryuo, all four drill rigs have been mobilized, with three rigs currently drilling and the fourth in place to allow flexibility in targeting options and to minimize down-time between drill holes. Eight initial 2022 diamond drill holes (~3,500m) are underway at Ryuo to test the continuity of high-grade intersections encountered in the 11-hole 2021 drill program (read here and here), and to advance exploration on multiple targets along the 1.2km long open-ended alteration corridor. Drilling at the Jinja vein is expected to target the continuity of wide high-grade intercepts which intersected 6.3 g/t Au and 15.7 g/t Ag over 20.0m (IKDD21-010), as well as 12.1 g/t Au and 33 g/t Ag over 4.9m (IKDD21-001). Meanwhile, drilling at the Ryuei and Buryu breccia zones, located 500m to 800m southwest of Jinja, is expected to target depth extensions of the higher grades intersected in 2021 including 1,395 g/t Au and 768 g/t Ag over 0.45m (IKDD21-008) and 30 g/t Au and 284 g/t Ag over 1.0m (IKDD21-007). The remaining portion of drilling at Ryuo will target the lower elevations of a wide, blind vein-stockwork zone between the Jinja and Shouei veins. Upon completion of drilling at Ryuo, drilling will shift to the Kitano-o and Saroma prospects, where an additional seven drilling holes (~3,500m) are planned. At the Kitano-o prospect, three initial deep scout drill holes are planned to target depth extensions and locate the deeper source of historical gold mined. Notably, +96k oz Au was produced from the Kitano-o mine prior to the government-imposed closure in 1943. Lastly, at the Saroma prospect, four initial scout drill holes are planned to test a 1km section of the Saroma vein and target the deeper extension of the ore shoots for higher grade mineralization. We note that at Saroma, 13,189t was mined prior to 1939 from a section of the vein at an average grade of 9.7 g/t Au. Overall, with this initial 7,000m of drilling on three different prospects, Japan Gold plans to rapidly advance Ikutahara in 2022, and additional drill meters are planned to be allocated based on the success of these programs. Read more
