The underground reverse circulation drilling was conducted on two ore zones currently being mined, the Ogee and Otto. In the Ogee zone, holes were designed to delineate the margins of a longhole stope under development that will be mined during the second quarter of 2015.
Additionally, this work tested an isolated ore-grade intercept beyond the current mine plan.
The limits of the longhole stope were adequately delineated and the outer zone was intercepted approximately 30 feet (10 m) from an active heading and returned 50 feet (15.2 m) grading 0.869 oz/ton Au (29.8 g/t).
Drilling in the Otto zone targeted areas where additional information was required to convert inferred mineralization to measured and indicated resource for inclusion in the mine plan.
Atna president & CEO James Hesketh said: "Our underground reverse circulation drilling program is intercepting exceptional grades over good lengths. These results are likely to contribute to our goal of converting mineralization that we currently carry as inferred into measured and indicated, while also providing information to support our mine planning efforts. We have budgeted a regular drilling program to continue this work as we expand our underground workings."
Analytical results contained within this press release were completed by standard fire assay methods with an atomic absorption or gravimetric finish by Inspectorate America Corporation, an independent, ISO certified, analytical laboratory located in Sparks, Nevada. Atna maintains a rigorous Quality Assurance – Quality Control (QA/QC) program utilizing certified gold standards to augment Inspectorate’s internal QA/QC program.
