Blue Star Gold Corp. [TSXV-BAU; OTCQB-BAUFF; FSE-5WP0] provided an update on the critical minerals component of its exploration program at the Ulu and Roma Projects in the Kitikmeot region of Nunavut.
Assay results are available for the first of five drill holes completed on the HI01 target on the Roma Project. This target is being renamed the Ataani Target; Ataani having the meaning of underneath/beneath in the local dialect. This name reflects the discovery of the massive sulphide lens below a flat lying diabase sill.
Highlights: First drill hole on Ataani returned 17.1 metres of 0.973% copper equivalent, or 17.1 metres of 0.42% Cu, 1.43% Zn, 0.03% Pb, 9.19 g/t Ag, and 0.13 g/t Au, or gold equivalent grade of 1.563 g/t over 17.1 metres, including 2.0 metres from 228.3 to 230.3 metres of zinc rich mineralization grading 0.08% Cu, 10.95% Zn, 0.11% Pb, 4.33 g/t Ag, and 0.12 g/t Au and 3.5 metres from 236.3 to 239.8 metres of copper-rich mineralization grading 1.46% Cu, 0.15% Zn, 0.01% Pb, 25.68 g/t Ag and 0.293 g/t Au.
A 37.25-metre mineralized zone of stringer to massive sulphides was intersected in the second hole drilled downdip (assays are pending). All five Ataani drill holes (total of 1,365 metres drilled) intercepted massive sulphide mineralization.
Grant Ewing, CEO, stated, “This is the first exploration program where we have focused on gold exploration and assessing some of our high priority critical mineral targets. Blue Star’s exploration team delivered an excellent result with the discovery of the Ataani massive sulphide lens with the first drill hole on the target. There is substantial potential for the discovery of additional near surface massive sulphide lenses in the immediate area as the gossan trends under a small lake to the south, and only ~20% of the HI01 property has been evaluated to date. Being proximal to the proposed Grays Bay Road (~6 km) and the High Lake VMS Deposit (~12 km) is another excellent attribute of the Ataani discovery.”
An initial program of Fixed Loop Electromagnetic (EM) surveying was completed in the northern portion of the HI01 claim resulting in a 320-metre by 100-metre EM plate representing a zone of strong conductivity located 180 metres below surface. A drill program of five holes for 1,365 metres was undertaken with the results of the first hole provided within this release and additional drill intervals discussed below; additional assay results are pending.
The field components of the program are complete with final camp demobilization planned to occur in September. Assay results are being reviewed and interpreted as received for timely disclosure.
After receipt of all assay data from the current program, deposit modeling will be conducted with the compiled field data and results to determine impacts to the resource base, pipeline target prioritization and pre-planning for 2025. Incremental work this season is expected to lead to future discoveries to grow our resource base of both gold and base metals across the Ulu Project and Roma Project in the Kitikmeot Region of Nunavut.
Gray’s Bay Road and Port Project (GBRPP): West Kitikmeot Resources is the new proponent for the GBRPP. The project envisions a deepwater port built on the Coronation Gulf, and a road connecting Nunavut to the Northwest Territories. Approximately $22 million in federal funding is on hand to advance the GBRPP Phase 1 to shovel-ready status.
The proposed all-season road would travel within and immediately adjacent to Blue Star’s Projects, providing excellent accessibility. This future access will dramatically lower the cost of doing business in the region, connecting Northern products to markets around the world, and enabling supplies to reach the area at a lower cost, for a longer season, and with greater reliability.
Blue Star’s landholdings total 270 km2 of prospective and underexplored mineral properties in the High Lake Greenstone Belt. The company owns the Ulu Gold Project, comprised of the Ulu Mining Lease and Hood River Property, and the Roma Project.
A significant high-grade gold resource exists at the Flood Zone deposit (Ulu Mining Lease), and numerous high-potential exploration targets (gold and critical minerals) occur throughout the company’s extensive landholdings, providing Blue Star with excellent resource growth potential. The site of the future deep-water port at Grays Bay is 40-100 km to the north of the properties, and the proposed route corridor for the all-weather Grays Bay Road passes close by the Roma and Ulu Gold Projects.
