Freegold Ventures Limited (TSX: FVL, OTCQX: FGOVF), the Canadian exploration company focused on Alaska, is making steady strides in its 2025 drilling campaign at the Golden Summit project near Fairbanks. Recent results from its ongoing program add further confidence to the gold potential in the key WOW Zone as the company continues to upgrade its mineral resources while preparing for a pre-feasibility study.
The 2025 drilling program at Golden Summit is well underway, with four rigs actively working and a fifth scheduled to begin drilling in mid-September. To date, Freegold has completed 29 holes totaling 18,361 meters, with four additional holes in progress. The objective of this intensive effort is to convert inferred mineral resources, those less certain, to the higher confidence indicated category through targeted infill drilling, geotechnical surveys, and metallurgical testing.
Among the standout discoveries in this campaign is the WOW Zone, which continues to deliver promising high-grade gold intersections. Hole GS2502 returned 4.28 grams per tonne (g/t) gold over 28.7 meters starting at a depth of 44.2 meters. Later in the same hole, an impressive 4.20 g/t over 9 meters was also detected from 305.9 meters down. Nearby hole GS2505, 150 meters southeast, yielded 2.31 g/t gold over a broad 65.4-meter intercept beginning at 424.4 meters. These results highlight the zone’s potential to host significant volumes of higher-grade mineralization, crucial for economic development and resource expansion.
Beyond the WOW Zone, drilling in other areas has also uncovered encouraging mineralization. In the Cleary Hill region, hole GS2503 intersected 0.93 g/t gold over 77.6 meters near surface with additional higher-grade sections, including 62.3 g/t over 2.7 meters at depth. The Dolphin Zone also showed strength with an 81.45 g/t intercept over 0.6 meters in hole GS2504, along with a broader zone of 1.41 g/t extending over 119 meters. Such higher-grade intercepts within broader mineralized envelopes can provide exciting upside for resource models.
Meanwhile, metallurgical testing forms a core part of Freegold’s strategy to optimize extraction methods for Golden Summit’s mineralization. Samples weighing more than 1,500 kilograms, gathered from multiple drill holes, have been prepared into a “master composite” for testwork at BaseMet Laboratories in Kamloops, British Columbia. The tests are focused on refining gold recovery workflows and assessing three advanced sulfide oxidation processes, Pressure Oxidation (POX), BIOX, and the Albion Process, all of which have demonstrated gold recoveries exceeding 90%. Recent testwork showed gold recovery rates surpassing 92% with POX and over 93% with the Albion Process, signaling strong potential for economic recovery improvements.
Additionally, Freegold is conducting comprehensive site preparation work in line with advancing towards a pre-feasibility study set to begin in late 2025. This includes installing vibrating wire piezometers to monitor groundwater, collecting surface water samples, and performing extensive environmental baseline studies such as mammal and habitat surveys and cultural resource assessments. These steps aim to ensure good stewardship of the project area and reduce development risks.
Geotechnical drilling to better understand rock stability, along with ongoing geological mapping to identify new exploration targets, complements the drilling and metallurgical work. Two large-diameter PQ core holes have recently been drilled specifically to enhance metallurgical test parameters and comminution studies at Golden Summit.
Freegold’s resource at Golden Summit already ranks among the largest undeveloped gold resources in North America, with recent estimates indicating more than 17 million ounces in the indicated category at an average grade of 1.24 g/t gold. The continuing drilling and metallurgical work aims to build on this foundation by upgrading resource confidence, expanding mineralization, and refining processing pathways, all essential steps as the company moves toward development decisions.
By advancing both the geological and processing aspects of the project, Freegold Ventures is positioning Golden Summit to attract further attention amid a gold market that reflects ongoing demand for quality deposits. The latest drill results in the WOW Zone and elsewhere underscore the project’s promising grade potential and breadth of mineralization, making it a compelling resource to watch.
