Columbus Gold Corp. said Aug. 15 that recent drilling at its 44.99%-owned Montagne d'Or gold property in French Guiana identified a new gold zone and expanded the main deposit.

The recently completed diamond drill program, comprising 31 drillholes totaling 5,280 meters, intersected a new mineralized zone north of the general Montagne d'Or trend, where it returned 8.0 meters grading 5.53 g/t of gold.

Drilling also extended the main deposit at depth and along strike, with a 17.7-meter intercept at 1.92 g/t of gold extending mineralization by 175 meters below previous drilling and a 58.1-meter intercept at 0.56 g/t of gold extending mineralization by 400 meters to the west.

Columbus Gold is planning a surface auger grid sampling program later this year to focus on the new zone.

Nord Gold earned a 55.01% interest in the Montagne d'Or project in March after completing a bankable feasibility study on the property under a September 2013 agreement.