Dual-listed i-80 Gold has discovered high-grade, silver-rich polymetallic carbonate replacement (CRD) mineralisation in drilling at the Hilltop target at Ruby Hill in Nevada, which the company believes offers a substantial opportunity.
Hilltop is one of five conceptual exploration targets drilled in the 2022 programme. The new zone of mineralisation is located about 400 m southwest of the polymetallic Blackjack zone and immediately south of the Archimedes pit and the planned portal that the company is advancing for construction.
Mineralisation in the Hilltop target contains high-grade silver, including 515.3 g/t over 38.3 m and 929.7 g/t over 4.6 m and has been intersected in two areas.
Definition and expansion drilling is under way, and the horizon remains open along strike and at depth.
"At current metal prices, the rock value of the initial drill intercepts in the Hilltop zone represent some of the highest-grade mineralisation identified, on a per tonne basis, to-date at Ruby Hill,” said CEO Ewan Downie.
"Given its proximity to the underground infrastructure planned in 2023, this zone is expected to fit in to our future development and mine plans such that we ultimately expect to produce gold, silver and base metals."
i-80 reports that the Ruby Hill district has a long history of high-grade polymetallic CRD mining that began in the late 1800s, resulting in production of 1.65-million ounces of gold, 39-million ounces of silver, 625-million pounds of lead and 12-million pounds of zinc from two-million tons of ore through 1964.
Since then, the CRD potential of the district has been largely overlooked, providing the company what it believes to be a substantial opportunity.
It is expected that refractory mineralization from the planned underground operation at Ruby Hill will be trucked to the company's Lone Tree facility, once operational, and oxide mineralisation can be processed on-site at the existing heap leach pad, or at the existing leach plant, once refurbished.
i-80 is commissioning a study that will contemplate retrofitting the leach plant, once oxide mineralisation is depleted, to a flotation plant that would recover base metals.
i-80's substantial existing infrastructure at Lone Tree and Ruby Hill is expected to reduce potential exposure to the current inflationary environment.