The old mining adage "grade is king" is often used to differentiate a mediocre exploration property from one that has excellent potential for being developed into a mine.

One project with a lot of eyes on it right now, not only for the grade, but other factors working in its favour, is the Unga gold project in Alaska. The property is the focus of Redstar Gold Corp (TSXV:RGC), which recently completed a 1,500-metre drill program at the 2-kilometre-long Shumagin zone. While assays are still pending, Redstar has reason to believe that there is high-grade gold throughout the zone, and along strike and at depth.

An 8-hole drill program at Shumagin in May 2015 yielded several high-grade gold intersections. Assay results included 202 grams per tonne over 1.9 metres and 35.3 g/t over 2 metres. The recently completed program comprised 7 holes, spaced over the 750-metre-long strike. According to Redstar, the program was designed to test the down-dip and along-strike expansion potential of high-grade vein and breccia mineralization at various elevations.

image: http://www.mining.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Redstar2.jpg

The Unga gold project is located at the end of the Aleutian Peninsula, at the site of Alaska's first gold mine, the underground Apollo-Sitka mine.

"We are excited to report that all drill holes intersected the targeted structure, which included the intersection of multi-generational phreatomagmatic breccias, hydrothermal breccias, and late Shumagin-style breccias and veins that has been documented in previously executed drill programs to host high-grade mineralization," said Redstar president and CEO Peter Ball, in a press release announcing the completion of the three-week, $1-million drill program.

Achieving a successful drill program was one of the goals of Ball, a mining industry veteran who joined Redstar in January after working for Columbus Gold (TSV:CGT) as senior vice-president, business and corporate development. The 49-year-old has 25 years of industry experience on his resume including stints with Hudson Bay Mining & Smelting, Echo Bay Mines Ltd., RBC Dominion Securities, Eldorado Gold (TSX:ELD), Adriana Resources (TSXV:ADI) and Argentex Mining (TSXV:ADX).

In an interview with MINING.com, Ball explained how the stars are aligning for Redstar and the Unga project, which despite being early-stage, is attracting interest from institutional investors, including some influential gold funds. But first, a little history.

http://www.mining.com/stars-aligning-redstar-golds-alaska-flagship/