Toronto-listed Liberty Gold has announced an updated mineral resource estimate (MRE) at its Black Pine oxide gold project, in Idaho, bolstering tonnes and improving its grades.

Black Pine now boasts an indicated resource of 2.61-million ounces of oxide ore at an average grade of 0.52 g/t gold and totalling 157.27-million tonnes, and an inferred resource of 483 000 oz at an average grade of 0.43 g/t gold and totalling 35.15-million tonnes.

Liberty reports that a high-grade subset of the MRE within the 0.20 g/t resource pit consists of an indicated 1.55-million ounces of gold at an average grade of 1.02 g/t gold and totalling 47.39-million tonnes, as well as an inferred 219 000 oz of gold at an average grade of 0.93 g/t gold and totalling 7.32-million tonnes.

In total, the updated estimate represents a 52% increase in indicated ounces and a 31% increase in inferred ounces over the maiden resource released just 18 months ago. Within the higher-grade subset of 0.50 g/t gold within the 0.20 g/t resource pit, 528 000 indicated ounces were added relative to the 2021 maiden resource estimate, a 52% increase.

Liberty attributed the increase in ounces to the discovery and subsequent intensive drilling of 154 holes included in the resource in the Rangefront zone beginning in July 2021 over 15 months; the expansion and/or amalgamation of several existing zones, including the CDF, E, and M zones and discovery of the Bobcat zone, a southern extension of the CDF zone; drill testing and drill definition of surficial waste rock storage; and pit backfill and definition drilling in previously-defined areas of inferred mineralisation.

“This updated MRE for our flagship Black Pine project represents a major milestone for Liberty Gold and a major accomplishment for our exploration team, who spent the last year and a half with a singular focus on expanding and upgrading the resource endowment at Black Pine. 

“The team has delivered impressive results. Compared to the July 2021 resource estimate, tonnes are up significantly while grade has improved using conservative input assumptions, positioning Black Pine in the rarified territory of an oxide resource with more than 2.6-million indicated ounces and a further half a million ounces inferred. Moreover, we are encouraged that Black Pine continues to expand in all directions with future resource growth expected as drill results continue to impress,” commented president and CEO Jason Attew.