Blackrock Gold gets second drill rig at Tonopah West; Silver Cloud drilling set for the Fall

Blackrock Gold Corp (CVE:BRC) updated Tuesday on exploration at its Tonopah West project in Western Nevada, where the drill program has now been expanded to 20,000 metres (m) and at the Silver Cloud project in the north of the state where drilling is earmarked for the Fall. A second core drill rig arrived at Tonopah West on August 20 and will drill core tails from a series of pre-collar holes. The first of these is complete and is a step-out from hole TW20-001 within the Victor vein. That hole had encountered multiple intersects, including 29 metres of 965 grams per ton (g/t) silver equivalent (AgEq). READ: Blackrock Gold bolsters board with sales and corporate finance professional Five holes are planned in this core-tail program, which will test around 300 metres of the Victor Vein gold and silver. The reverse circulation (RC) rig has also completed 17 drill holes, with assays pending from the Victor Vein, DPB, and New Discovery targets, in addition to three pre-collars at Victor for the core tail program at the Victor Vein target. "The addition of a second drill rig and expansion of the program to 20,000 metres allows us to accelerate the discovery process and materially advance our understanding of the multiple targets that comprise Tonopah West in this maiden round of drilling," Andrew Pollard, president and CEO at Blackrock Gold said in a statement. "Utilizing the core drill rig allows us to test the down-plunge extent of the Victor gold and silver vein zone beyond where holes TW20-001-002, and -003 left off, while the reverse circulation rig can simultaneously continue on discovery focused drilling and rapidly follow-up on exploration-success by delineating vein zones every 100 metres at other targets. Assays are pending from three target areas, and we're excited to test the Ohio Vein target next," he added. Meanwhile, at Silver Cloud, an Induced Polarization (IP) survey is underway and preliminary data is defining additional areas for follow up. Mapping and sampling has been completed, and drill permits have been submitted to the Bureau of Land Management for an envisioned 3,500-metre drill program focused on the NE Veins and Quiver targets. Permit approvals and bonding are anticipated by September. Blackrock has secured a RC drill rig which will arrive on-site in mid-September, it added. Contact the author at giles@proactiveinvestors.com