TSX-listed Premier Gold Mines has intersected high-grade gold mineralisation in the first hole drilled at its Antenna target, which is located between the historic Cove and McCoy gold/silver openpit mines, in the US.

The company’s discovery included a 118.9-m-thick mineralised zone grading 4.12 g/t gold, as well as an interval assaying 15.74 g/t gold across 6.1 m starting at a depth of 606 m.

TSX-listed Barrick Gold is spending $22-million to earn a 60% interest in the area surrounding Premier’s wholly-owned Cove deposit.

The companies have worked closely in identifying multiple high-quality targets that will be tested in the current drill programme.

“The resulting Antenna discovery comprises mineralisation contained entirely within the Favret Formation, which is a highly receptive and underexplored carbonate host rock at McCoy-Cove. On a grade thickness basis, this drill intercept represents one of the most significant ever drilled on the property and terminated in high-grade mineralisation,” said Premier president and CEO Ewan Downie.

The McCoy-Cove property, west of the Battle Mountain-Eureka Trend, hosts four distinct mineralisation types including Carlin-style, polymetallic sheeted veins, carbonate replacement and skarn.

The McCoy and Cove gold mines produced around 3.3-million ounces of gold and 110-million ounces of silver over a 20-year period between 1986 and 2006.

Under Premier’s stewardship, current mineral resources at the 100%-owned portion include 1.05-million tonnes grading 11.21 g/t gold for 340 000 oz of gold in the indicated category and 4.04-million tonnes grading 11.25 g/t gold for 1.32-million ounces of gold in the inferred category.

Phase 1 drilling is designed to explore the Favret at wide-spaced sites where initial structural and/or chemical precursors have been identified.

Results from this first reverse circulation drilled hole at the Antenna target are significant and warrant twinning of the hole with core for further validation and to explore through both the entire Favret and the Dixie Valley lithologies.