ECR Minerals Plc, operator of the Itogon gold exploration project in Benguet, said it would start on Jan. 15 the second phase of its drilling program to further define mineral resources in the area.
The UK-based company has the right to earn a 50-percent interest in the project.
The company said the drilling program was mainly intended to provide information on the orientation of the interpreted mineralized structures and the extent of near-surface mineralization.
“(This) phase of drilling at the Itogon project will be a crucial one (as) the results of the first phase were encouraging but expectedly left a number of geological questions unanswered,” said ECR chief executive Stephen Clayson.
Clayson said the hope was that the second phase would enable a geological interpretation for the main prospect area at Itogon to be set out with confidence, considering that such interpretation would then guide decisions regarding further work.
“The second phase had been planned to commence during the final quarter of 2014, but additional time to consider the exploration data generated by ECR to date was deemed necessary before the program could be finalized,” he said.
The earlier drilling program produced results as promising as ore samples containing 119.53 grams of gold per ton, located at just about 10 meters from the surface.