Otis GoldCorp. said July 25 that it has started a phase-one drill programcovering 5,500 meters across 20 holes at its flagship gold project in Idaho.

Most of the first-phase drilling will focus on thenorthwestern half of the Kilgore deposit, particularly in and around the CrabClaw area, where 10 holes drilled last year encountered significantmineralization.

Drilling will aim to extend the mineralized holes to depthwith both reverse circulation and core drilling. Additional drilling will focuson infilling and extending known mineralization to complete cross-sectionalpanels. Several drill holes will also follow up on higher-grademineralized intercepts in the northern part of the deposit which remain open atdepth.

Otis Gold plans to use existing capital and proceeds from arecently announced C$1.8 millionprivate placement to fund the drill program. Drilling is expected to take up to10 weeks to complete and will be followed by a second phase program.