Harte Gold Corp. on Feb. 15 released an updated resource estimate for its preproduction-stage Sugar Zone gold property in Ontario, unveiling a 272% surge in total contained gold compared to the estimate in the project's 2012 preliminary economic assessment.

Sugar Zone is now estimated to host indicated resources of 2.6 million tonnes grading 8.52 g/t of gold for 714,200 ounces and inferred resources of 3.6 million tonnes grading 6.59 g/t of gold for 760,800 ounces. Contained gold totals 1.5 million ounces, compared to the 397,000 ounces defined previously.

The 2012 PEA outlined indicated resources of 1.1 million tonnes grading 8.41 g/t of gold for 302,000 ounces and inferred resources of 417,000 tonnes grading 7.13 g/t of gold for 95,000 ounces.

The updated estimate uses a cutoff grade of 3.0 g/t of gold, which will be the basis of Sugar Zone's new mine plan, and includes data from an additional 185,000 meters of diamond drilling at the Sugar Zone and Middle Zone deposits, with about 50% of indicated resources located in the upper 500 meters of the Sugar Zone deposit and a portion of the Middle Zone deposit.

According to Harte Gold, the project's gold grade is continuous at depth and will improve as infill drilling continues. As such, the company aims to complete approximately 30,000 meters of infill drilling at the two zones in 2018.

An updated PEA anticipated by the end of April will include mining of the Sugar Zone and Middle Zone, with key assumptions derived from the 70,000-tonne advanced exploration bulk sample and 30,000-tonne phase-one commercial programs.

Construction of the processing plant is on schedule, with commissioning expected to start by the beginning of the second half.