Victoria Gold Corp. said April 4 that its 2017 exploration program, including diamond drilling, is underway at its Dublin Gulch gold project in Canada's Yukon Territory, with the first phase budgeted at about C$6.2 million.

Three drill rigs are at the site, and drilling is underway and expected to ramp up over the next three weeks as drill sites are prepared.

About half of the first-phase budget will be focused on the Olive-Shamrock deposit, a high-grade satellite to the fully permitted and construction-ready Eagle project at Dublin Gulch. The company will continue step-out and definition drilling at Olive-Shamrock, aiming to expand the known, near-surface, minable tonnage along the mineralized shear zone.

The campaign will also test five prioritized targets along the Potato Hills trend, known as East Potato Hills, Nugget, Rex-Peso, Falcon and Lynx Dome. These targets are near the Eagle project and are largely accessible by existing access roads, the company noted.

Drilling is expected to continue throughout the year as the company aims to identify additional, definable resource gold deposits across the Dublin Gulch property.